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THE  EVOLUTION  OP 
STUYVESANT  VILLAGE 


(NEW  YORK  CITY 


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BLEECKER  TO  TENTH  STREET 
BROADWAY  TO  SECOND  AVENUE 

AND  AROUND  THERE 


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THE  EVOLUTION 


-OF- 


Stuyvesant    Village. 

(NEW  YORK  CITY) 


Tenth  to  Bleecker  Streets,  Broadway  to  Second  Avenue 
and  around  there, 


■BY- 


A.  A.  RIKEMAN 


MAMARONECK 
I899 


0;- 


PRESS  OF 

CURTIS  G.  PECK 


INTRODUCTION. 

On  April  6,  1609  Hendrick  Hudson,  in  command  of  the 
Halve  Maen  or  Half  Moon,  was  sent  from  Holland  by  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company  to  attempt  the  discovery  of  the 
North  west  passage.  He  coasted  along  this  country  until  he 
came  in  sight  of  the  Highlands  of  Naversink  and  then  entering 
what  is  now  called  New  York  bay,  sailed  up  the  North  river; 
returning  he  stopped  at  Manhattan  island. 

Hudson  deemed  the  island  and  its  environments  to  be  "a 
good  land  to  fall  in  with  and  pleasant  to  see-"  He  thought  it 
would  be  more  advantageous  to  the  Company  to  trade  with  the 
Indians  than  to  search  for  the  Northwest  passage;  the  rich  pelt- 
ries in  possession  of  the  natives  were  positives  certainties,  while 
the  Northwest  passage  if  ever  discovered  was  of  doubtful  utility ; 
so  he  decided  to  secure  the  valuable  furs  in  exchange  for 
knives,  trinkets  &c,  and  thus  escape  Custom  houses  and  duties. 
The  Holland  merchants  were  not  slow  to  see  and  avail  them- 
selves of  the  unrivaled  advantages  of  the  situation,  but  the 
charter  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Co.,  founded  in  1602,  did  not 
allow  them  to  trade  outside  of  certain  limits. 

Accordingly  a  number  of  merchants  organized  the  Dutch 
West  India  Co.,  for  the  express  purpose  of  trading  in  the  New 
World.  Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  commercial  in- 
terests of  the  United  States;  from  the  first  arrival  of  the  Dutch, 
Manhattan  island  has  been  because  of  its  advantageous  position 
a  commercial  center.  Hearing  of  the  beautiful  land  and  its 
prospects,  other  Hollanders  formed  a  colony  and  joined    Hud- 


-3 


son's  party,  and  in  162 1    received   a   charter  from   the    Dutch 
West  India  Co. 

These  were  desirable  people,  quite  different  in  character 
from  the  rough  and  lawless  adventurers  that  largely  composed 
the  earlier  settlers  in  many  of  the  Colonies. 

The  locality  thus  settled  by  the  Dutch  remained  in  their 
possession  just  fifty  years,  and  included  the  present  states 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Delaware,  extending  up 
Long  Island  Sound  as  far  as  the  present  town  of  Greenwich. 

At  this  time  Holland  was  the  richest  commercial  nation  in 
the  world,  she  was  a  power  in  the  European  States  System, 
and  her  alliance  was  eagerly  courted;  a  thousand  vessels  were 
annually  built  in  her  docks.  All  this  prosperity  excited  the 
jealousy  of  the  English  and  the  relations  between  England  and 
Holland  were  far  from  amiciable,  both  nations  were  striving 
for  the  commercial  leadership  of  the  globe. 

Holland  maintained  the  national  policy  of  unlimited  tolera- 
tion and  therefore  in  that  period  of  religious  disturbance  settlers 
came  from  all  parts  of  Europe;  this  was  especially  the  case 
with  the  Separatists  who  came  from  England  and  located  in 
Leyden  where  they  remained  12  years,  during  their  stay  in 
Holland  they  learned  a  great  deal  that  was  of  practical  use  to 
them,  among  other  things  they  saw  the  Hollandese  make 
oliekocks,  and  from  these  come  the  doughnut  commonly  sup- 
posed to  have  originated  with  the  Pilgrims,  but  really  a  copy 
in  a  remote  degree  of  a  good  old  Holland  recepie;  hearing  of 
the  delightful  Nieu  Netherlands  the  1'uritaiis  decided  to  make 
Nietl  Amsterdam  their  permanent  home,  they  accordingly 
embarked  for  that  port,  but  a  merciful  Providence  had  planned 


otherwise,  and  they  landed  on  the  Massachusetts  coast.  Thus 
the  Dutch  not  only  settled  the  Middle  states;  but  made  it  possi- 
ble for  the  Pilgrims  to  settle  the  Eastern  states. 

In  1660  England  enacted  a  series  of  navigation  laws  intended 
to  cripple  the  foreign  trade  of  the  Dutch;  naturally  the  discord 
between  the  two  countries  extended  to  their  colonies,  the  Nieu 
Netherlands  were  especially  disturbed,  and  a  distrust  for  Eng- 
land was  thus  formed  by  the  Knickerbockers  that  continued  at 
least  until  the  middle  of  the  present  century. 

The  Hollanders  brought  to  this  country  the  thrift,  decision 
of  character,  love  of  religious  and  political  liberty,  hospitality, 
and  genial  generosity  that  distinguished  their  nationality;  and 
the  development  of  these  noble  traits  has  made  New  York  un- 
like any  other  city  on  this  continent,  in  no  city,  the  South  not 
excepted,  is  there  found  the  same  broad,  cosmopolitan  character, 
unbounded  hospitality,  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others.  In 
short  no  nation  has  influenced  the  United  States  like  the  Dutch, 
and  although  the  lapse  of  time  has  brought  about  many  changes 
that  influence  is  still  felt,  and  to  have  in  ones  possession  an 
article  of  furniture,  pottery,  or  jewelry  that  has  come  down 
by  inheritance  from  Hollandese  ancestors  is  a  source  of  great 
pride  to  the  owner. 

The  tune  familiarly  known  to  us  as  "Yankee  Doodle"  was 
sung  in  Stuyvesant  Village  from  its  incipiency,  having  been 
brought  from  Holland;  the  words  being  decidedly  national  the 
last  line  of  which  was — 

"Buttermilk  and  tanther." 

The  word  tanther  is  supposed  to  have  reference  to  their 
custom  of  giving  one-tenth  of  their  income  for  religious  purposes. 


STUYVESANT  VILLAGE  BEFORE  THE 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

During  the  persecution  of  Protestants  in  Holland,  (1568-1609) 
and  sometime  after,  many  refugees  came  to  the  New  World, 
and  some,  traversing  Manhattan  Island  for  the  purpose  of  find- 
ing a  suitable  place  to  locate,  were  attracted  to  the  spot  after- 
wards known  as  Stuyvesant  village;*  this  was  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  portions  of  the  Island,  the  ground  was  somewhat 
undulating  and  well  wooded,  while  a  lovely  little  pond  added 
to  the  attractions,  and  reminded  them  of  the  dear  home  land; 
north  of  the  pond  were  a  succession  of  rocky  hills  made 
picturesque  by  a  marvelous  growth  of  trees  and  vines  interspers- 
ed with  rivulets  and  waterfalls;  the  drinking  water  was 
excellent,  being  an  exception  to  other  parts  of  the  Island. 
Altogether  this  was  almost  an  idealic  location. 

Thus  was  founded  a  portion  of  Manhattan  Island  that  was 
destined  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  over  the  Country  at  large. 

Many  of  the  refugees  brought  choice  trees  with  them  from 
Holland,  and  immediately  on  locating  their  homes  planted  the 
trees,  and  thus  the  natural  beauties  of  the  spot  were  enhanced; 
these  little  trees  were  attended  with  great  care,  and  flourished 
accordingly.  Houses  were  built  of  rough  stone  of  which  there 
was  an  abundance  in  the  neighborhood;  and  here  the  refugees 
hoped  to  enjoy  the  civil  and  religious  freedom  that  was  dearer 

*  The  writer's  people  were  represented   here   from   the   persecution  of 
Protestants  in  Holland,  until  1872,  a  period  of  over  250  years. 


to  their  hearts  than  all  else;  the  watchword  was  "Education 
and  Religion."  Unlike  many  of  the  early  settlers  they 
thought  of  trade  only  as  a  means  to  obtain  a  livelihood;  many 
of  them  had  escaped  from  Holland  with  but  little  of  this  world's 
gear,  but  with  all  the  enterprise,  industry,  patriotism  and  ad- 
herence to  principle,  that  characterized  their  nationality,  and 
their  energies  were  consecrated  to  a  higher  and  nobler  life. 

Soon  a  Dutch  village,  with  windmills  and  other  characteris- 
tics of  the  home-land,  was  in  full  operation,  and  the  people 
looked  forward  to  a  quiet  happy  life.  They  were  still  wards  of 
the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  who  had  done  a  thriving 
business  in  the  New  World;  the  Company  had  sent  out  several 
Governors,  with  different  degrees  of  excellance;  their  last  and 
best  Governor  was  Petrus  Stuyvesant  who  arrived  at  Manhat- 
tan Island  on  the  nth  of  May  1647.  The  whole  city  received 
him  with  great  joy,  the  people  thought  they  saw  in  him  a  de- 
liverer from  the  petty  tyrany  of  former  rulers;  in  response 
Stuyvesant  assured  them  that  he  would  govern  them,  as  a 
father  governs  his  children.  Stuyvesant  had  lost  a  leg  in  a 
skirmish  on  the  Portuguese  settlement  at  St.  Martins,  but  had 
replaced  the  member  with  a  wooden  one,  with  a  silver 
band,  which  caused  some  people  to  think  he  had  a  silver  limb: 
tor  a  time  the  Director  lived  in  the  Stad  Huis,  located  on  what 
is  known  as  Nos.  4  and  (>  Pearl  St., — northwest  coroner  of 
Pearl  and  State  -Streets. 

Meanwhile  Stuyvesant  bad  bought  a  large  tract  of  land,  for 
6400  guilders  extending  in  some  places  from  Broadway  to  the 
East  river,  and  from  5th  to  17th  Streets,  the    boundary    on  the 


west  side  being  irregular,  and  built  a  commodious  stone  house 
near  the  present  corner  of  jth  St.,  and  Second  Avenue.  This 
house  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1777.  An  old  lady  who  passed 
away  in  1S95  recollected  seeing  in  her  childhood  the  founda- 
tion. There  were  a  great  many  small  stone  houses  surround- 
ing the  mansion  for  the  accomodation  of  the  servants  of  whom 
there  were  great  numbers  both  black  and  white;  these  people 
under  Stuyvesant's  directions  laid  out  the  grounds  with  great 
care,  as  far  as  possible  enhancing  the  natural  beauties  of 
the  locality.  Here  when  the  cares  of  government  permitted. 
the  Director  and  his  family  resided,  the  place  was  known  as 
Stuyvesant  bouwerij  or  farm  and  the  road  leading  from  the 
City  to  the  farms  in  this  vicinity  was  called  bouwerij  or  farm 
lane.  There  was  quite  a  community  here,  and  Stuyvesant  was 
pleased  to  have  as  neighbors  an  intelligent,  religious  people,  and 
gave  them  all  possible  encouragement.  The  Director  built  a 
stone  church  on  his  own  ground  and  at  his  own  expense;  the 
lawn  surrounding  the  Church  sloped  to  a  pretty  little  pond, 
which  expanded  its  shining  waters  where  Third  Avenue  now 
is,   extending  to   the  Bible  House. 

Dominie  Selwyns  had  the  pastoral  care  of  the  first  church 
in  Breuckelean  (Brooklyn)  but  the  people  had  no  church  edi- 
fice and  the  membership  was  small  and  unable  to  pay  the 
Dominie's  salary;  the  Governor  knowing  of  their  embarrass- 
ment offered  to  advance  what  would  now  be  equal  to  $100  per 
annum  toward  their  expenses  provided  Dominie  Selwyns 
would  preach  in  the  bouwerij  church  on  Sunday  afternoons; 
these  services  were  continued  regularly  during  the  remainder 
of  the  Director's  life.     Previous  to  this    arrangement  with  the 


Breuckelean  pastor  there  was  no  regular  preaching  in  the  vil- 
lage, the  people  worshiped  in  the  Fort  which  stood  where  the 
Bowling  Green  now  is.  Dominie  Selwyns  married  the  widow 
of  Cornelius  Steenwyck  a  thoroughbred  Netherlander  and 
mayor  of  Nieu  Amsterdam  in  1668-69-70-82  and  83. 

The  Director  was  a  man  who  respected  his  own  opinions. 
Bancroft  calls  him  "the  brave  and  honest  Stuyvesant."  Yet 
still  he  can  hardly  be  called  a  typical  Dutchman.  A  decided 
Calvanist,  and  inclined  to  look  with  severity  upon  dissenters, 
he  was  as  a  rule  very  liberal,  although  sometimes  seized  with  a 
fit  of  religious  dyspepsia,  when  the  West  India  Company  found 
it  necessary  to  nip  the  intolerance  of  this  same  Pieter  in  the 
bud,  they  wished  him  to  carry  out  the  generous,  liberal  spirit 
of  the  true  Hollandese,  as  may  be  seen  in  their  directions  to 
the  Governor.  "Let  every  man  remain  free,  as  long  as  he  is 
modest,  moderate,  his  political  conduct  irreproachable,  and  so 
long  as  he  does  not  offend  others,  or  oppose  the  government." 
And  thus  Nieu  Netherland  was  a  refuge  for  all  religious  per- 
suasions. This  was  a  persecuting  age  and  Stuyvesant  was 
only  trying  to  keep  up  with  trie  times,  but  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  was  far  in  advance  of  the  period. 

However,  in  the  Directors  own  neighborhood  there  was 
none  of  this  objectionable  spirit  manifested,  possibly  because 
there  was  nothing  to  call  out  such  peculiar  manifestations,  as 
the  people  were  of  similar  belief. 

The  Governor  visited  Holland  in  1650  and  on  his  return 
brought  a  remarkably  fine  pear  tree,  and  planted  it  in  a  large 
orchard  of  this  fruit,  when  the  streets  were  opened  this  tree 
fortunately  came  just  on  the  corner    of    13th    St.,    and   Third 


Avenue  and  therefore  was  not  cut  clown. 

Many  of  the  people  had  an  exalted  opinion  of  Stuyvesant's  in- 
dependent-mind and  vigorous  intellect,  but  the  majority  of  them, 
even  his  immediate  neighbors  were  not  altogether  pleased  with 
his  methods;  they  wanted  a  representative  government,  and 
the  Director  was  opposed  to  this,  thinking  himself  quite  suffi- 
cient to  lead  in  political  matters;  this  gained  for  him  the  sob- 
riquet of  "Hard  Headed  Piete."  this  appellation  pleased  Stuyve- 
sant,  indeed,  he  fairly  gloried  in  the  title,  for  in  his  estimation 
it  proved  him  to  be  a  man  of  nerve  and  decision,  and  no 
weakling. 

The  Swedes  had  planted  a  colony  on  the  Delaware  which 
Stuyvesant  considered  an  invasion  of  Dutch  territory;  in  1655 
the  Director  sent  his  trumpeter  Anthony  Van  Corlier  to  sum- 
mon the  stalwart  Nieu  Netherlander  to  join  in  the  suppression 
of  the  invaders;  nothing  could  have  pleased  Van  Corlier  more 
than  this  commission;  so  taking  his  trumpet  and  sounding  sev- 
eral blasts  to  announce  his  departure,  he  started  off  one  line 
morning  and  in  a  few  days  raised  an  army  of  600,  all  mighty 
men  of  valor,  and  marched,  or  perhaps  waddled,  down  to  the 
lower  end  of  Nieu  Amsterdam,  amid  a  great  show  of  valor  and 
waving  of  flags* — they  embarked  on  the  vessels  awaiting 
them  t   and   sailing   up   the    Delaware   subjected    the  Swedes; 


*  The  colonial  flair  of  Nieu  Amsterdam  (substantially  the  present  arms  of  New- 
York  City)  was  carried  by  armed  vessels  sailing  out  of  port — a  beaver  being  the 
principal  figure,  indicative  both  of  the  industry  of  the  Dutch  people  and  the 
wealth  of  the  fur  trade. 

t  Washington  Irving  says  that  in  the  expedition  were  the  "Van  Bunschotens, 
Ryckmans,  Dyckmans,  Brinkerhoffs,  Schemerhorns,  Van  Cortlandts,  Van 
Corlears"  and  doubtless  there  were  the  Van  Wycks,  Van  Arsdales,  Van  Dyrks^ 
Van  Taenhovens  and  the  Boscouwens. 


New-  Sweden  was  heard  of  no  more,    but  the   people   were   se- 
cured in  their  individual  rights. 

While  the  Director  was  absent  from  Nieu  Amsterdam  a 
messenger  came  to  him  in  great  haste  with  the  information  that 
the  people  even  the  Stuyvesant  villagers  were  becoming  insub- 
ordinate, questioning  his  authority,  and  speculating  the  advis- 
ability of  ousting  him  from  office  and  taking  political  matters 
in  their  own  hands,  and  then  and  there,  establish  the  complete 
religious  and  political  freedom  for  which  their  fathers  had 
fought  and  suffered,  and  that  in  Holland  was  their  dearest  right. 
The  Governor  thereupon  sent  nis  staff  by  the  hand  of  a 
trusty  follower  with  the  command  to  lay  the  staff  across  the 
open  book  of  laws,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  nine  men — the 
Gov's  Council. 

The  order  was  obeyed  to  the  letter,  and  the  result  was  satis- 
factory to  Stuyvesant.  This  scene  has  been  immortalized  by 
Mr.  George  Bouton. 

For  many  years  there  had  been  more  or  less  difficulty  re- 
lative to  the  boundery  between  the  Nieu  Netherland  and  Con- 
necticut colonies;  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  claimed  that 
their  territory  extended  up  the  Sound  as  far  as  the  present 
town  of  Greenwich;  while  the  English  claimed  to  Mamaroneck 
river.  The  English  offered  the  Nieu  Netherland ers  a  repres- 
entative government  and  in  August  1664  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  sent  a  fleet  to  Manhattan  Island.  The  people 
thought  that  any  change  would  be  desirable,  even  the  villagers 
advised  Stuyvesant  to  surrender.  The  Governor  saw  how 
hopeless  his  situation  was  and  finally  submitted  retiring  per- 
manently to  his  bouwerij  there  to  enjoy    the    peaee    and    trail- 


quility  that  had  not  been  his  during  his  Directorship. 

But  the  villagers  soon  found  that  the  fair  promises  of  the 
English  were  not  to  be  fulfilled.  The  remorse  of  the  Stuyves- 
ant  Villagers  was  boundless  they  were  indignant  with  the  faith- 
less English,  but  more  indignant  with  themselves  for  having 
been  influenced  by  the  fair  promises,  and  for  having  rebelled 
against  their  kind  friend  and  neighbor^,  for  said  they  "Better 
was  it  under  the  domination  of  Hard  Headed  Piete,  than 
now."  Then  the  villagers  recalled  the,  assurance  that  the 
Director  had  given  them  on  his  first  arrival  in  Nieu  Amster- 
dam. "That  he  would  govern  them  as  a  father  governs  his 
children"  and  they  remembered  with  sorrow  that  they  had 
been  rebelious,  as  well  as  ungrateful  unappreciative  children, 
and  longed  in  vain  for  his  return  to  the  Directorship.  Then 
Stuyvesant's  reign  commenced  with  enthusiasm  in  his  own 
neighborhood.  If  the  good  vrouws  prepared  anything  espec- 
ially appetizing  a  portion  must  be  sent  to  the  governor;  if 
flowers,  or  fruits  were  unusually  fine,  the  very  best  of  them 
arranged  in  the  most  attractive  manner  were  for  Stuyvesant — 
their  dear  friend  and  affectionate  adviser.  And  so  it  continued 
until  his  death,  when  his  remains  were  followed  with  the  deep- 
est mourning  and  reverence  by  the  whole  village  to  the  place 
of  interment,  in  a  vault  in  his  own  ground,  and  under  the 
•church  which  he  had  erected.  The  tablet  to  his  memory  is  in 
the  wall. 

In  spite  of  a  change  of  rulers  the  villages  grew  and  flourish- 
ed finely,  constant  additions  being  made  to  its  population 
by  people  of  similar  principles.  At  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  in  1685  great  numbers  of  French  refugees  the    most 

1 3 


intelligent  and  progressive  of  the  the  population  of  France, 
sought  a  home  in  the  New  World  and  many  of  them  naturally 
came  to  Stuyvestant  village  among  a  people  of  like  experi- 
ence. The  Governor's  wife  Judeth  Bayard  was  a  French 
refugee  among  others  were  the  De  Vows,  the  Badeaus,  the 
Coutants  and  the  De  Lanceys. 

Again  at  the  revolution  in  the  West  Indies  many  flocked  to 
Nieu  Amsterdam  and  great  numbers  of  them  settled  in  the  vil- 
lage considering  themselves  happy  to  find  a  community  of 
kindred  spirits. 

These  all  contributed  much  to  the  prosperity  of  the  village. 
About  this  time  there  lived  in  the  village  an  idle,  lazy,  good — 
natured  youth  by  the  name  of  Rip  or  Rap  Schallyon;  Rap  was 
especially  fond  of  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and  whenever  the 
good  vrouw  had  prepared  a  dish  exceedingly  appetizing  Rap 
seemed  to  know  by  intuition  just  when  and  where  to  go, 
and  invariably  presented  himself:  although  in  their  hearts  the 
housewives  despised  him  yet  the  hospitality  of  the  village  would 
not  allow  them  to  withhold  from  any  one;  so  the  youth  was 
invariably  treated  with  courtesy;  but  when  any  of  their  sub- 
ordinates were  derelict  in  their  duties  they  were  invariably 
compared  to  Rap,  and  to  this  day  the  descendants  of  the 
Knickerbockers  speak  of  an  idle,  lazy  person  as  a  RapSchail- 
yon.  Although  called  a  Dutch  village  because  of  the  original 
founders  it  might  almost  have  borne  the  appellation  of  French 
village  because  of  its  representatives  of  that  nation;  the 
two  nationalities  found  it  somewhat  difficult  at  all  times  to 
understand  each  other,  so  much  was  this  the  case  that  it  be- 
came necessary  to    use   a    French  and    Holland    dictionary; 

14 


the  book  most  popular  was  the  "Dictionnaire  Portatif  en 
Hollandois  and  Francois;  Hollandish  en  Fransch  Worden- 
Bock." 

As  time  passed  on  there  were  inter-marriages,  and  the 
next  generation  was  a  glorious  race  uniting  the  splendid  qual- 
ities of  both  nationalities;  their  versatality  of  talent  was  aston- 
ishing almost  any  of  the  men  could  build  a  domicle.  repair  and 
sometimes  make  furniture,  drive  a  sharp  bargain,  dis- 
cuss politics  and  religion  with  the  Dominie,  and  at  short  no- 
tice deliver  an  oration  that  always  brought  down  the  house. 
The  women  were  proud  of  their  femininity  and  aspired  to  be 
very  womanly  women,  they  could  spin,  weave,  and  make  their 
childrens  clothes,  were  experts  in  the  culinary  arts,  embroid- 
ered exquisitely,  and  sang  in  a  way  that  made  the  birds  stop  to 
listen;  and  all  was  done  with  such  ease  and  grace  that  outsid- 
ers received  the  impression  that  the  Stuyvesant  villagers  could 
do  far  more  if  they  only  made  an  effort  Both  men  and 
woman  excelled  in  social  qualities;  the  woman  always  expect- 
ed their  fathers,  brothers  and  husbands,  to  bring  home  their 
friends  to  partake  of  the  usual  meals,  and  if  these  invitations 
were  not  accepted  felt  aggrieved,  as  though  their  housewifely 
capacities  were  at  a  discount;  but  while  they  used  the  good 
things  of  this  life  they  did  not  abuse  them  it  was  apparent  to 
•critics  that  their  rotund  figures  and  slightly  flushed  faces  did 
not  conflict  with  the  teachings  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  or  Dord- 
recht (16:9) 

Great  attention  was  given  to  the  training  of  their  children, 
the  Fathers  told  them  of  the  wondrous  homeland,  the  art  gal- 
Aeries,  the  magnificent  cathedrals  adorned  with  valuable  paint- 

15 


ings,  statues,  and  the  costly  gifts  of  many  worshiping  gener- 
ations sacked  by  the  Spanish  soldiers,  and  told  all  so  vividly 
that  their  young  hearts  were  fired  with  religious  enthusiasm  and 
patriotism;  to  them  the  Duke  of  Alva  with  his  army  of  Span- 
ish veterans  the  beloved  William  of  Nassau,  Prince  of 
Orange;  Maurice  of  Nassau;  the  devoted  patriot  and  advocate 
John  of  Barneveld  were  as  living  realities. 

The  spiritual  training  of  the  children  devolved  principally 
upon  the  mothers,  and  well  did  they  do  their  work,  much  of 
the  teaching  was  oral,  the  stories  from  the  Bible  were  illus- 
trated by  the  Delft  tiles  around  the  fire-place,  and  the  Heidel- 
burgh  Catechism  was  thoroughly  explained,  but  above  all  the 
lives  of  the  seniors  furnished  the  living  examples  most  calcu- 
lated to  the  furtherance  of  the  teachings  of  book  or  tongue;  the 
children  grew  up  into  thoughtful,  quick-witted  liberty-loving 
bible-reading,  God-reverencing  men  and  woman. 

We  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  our  great,  great,  great  grand- 
mothers from  Holland  they  were  woman  of  nerve  and  high- 
souled  principles  and  swerved  not  from  the  path  of  duty  how- 
ever hard  it  might  be,  the  Stuy  vesant  villagers  regarded  them 
with  respect  and  love;  their  houses  were  models  oL  neatness 
"as  neat  as  a  Dutch  kitchen"  has  passed  into  a  proverb. 
There  were  no  "Mother  Goose  melodies"  in  those  days,  but  the 
good  mothers  sang — 

"Trip  atroop  atronge 
Vater  in  der  bonge 
Goede  klein  sooch." 
(Good  little  such) 

The  last  line  making  the  child  supremely  happy. 

A  colony  of  French  Huguenots  had  established   themselves 

16 


at  New  Rocbelle,  having  named  their  new  home  after  the  old 
H  uguenot  town  of  La  Rcchellein  France,  they  had  neither 
church  nor  minister,  this  was  a  great  hardship  to  people  who 
had  been  exiled  trom  their  native  country  and  despoiled  of 
their  goods  for  conscience  sake;  among  the  families  were  the 
Guions,  Angevines,  Schuremans,  Badeaus,  Flandreaus,  Sy- 
cards,  Le  Counts,  Bcutcilliers,  Rhinelanders,  Bennetts,  Cou- 
tants  and  many  others.  These  did  not  let  the  fact  of  their 
having  no  spiritual  home  of  their  own  prevent  them  from  at- 
tending divine  service. 

Every  Saturday  at  midnight  they  started  with  others  from 
the  surrounding  country — Mamaroneck,  Scarsdale,  and  walk- 
ed down  to  the  French  Church  *  on  Pine  Street — Church  of  Du 
Saint  Esprit;  they  generally  reached  Harlem  by  daylight 
where  they  stopped  at  a  large  rock  to  eat  a  lunch  and  rest. 

After  recuperating  they  started  again  on  their  journey, 
reaching  Stuyvesant  village  in  time  for  breakfast  which  they 
found  waiting  for  them,  the  doors  of  Dutch  and  French  were 
open  to  receive  the  visiting  Huguenots  and  preparations  made 
for  them,  a  warm  welcome  as  well  as  a  warm  breakfast  being 
theirs.  Then  as  church  time  drew  on  they  prepared  to  enter 
the  holy  temple  of  the  Lord  and  both  nationalities  walked 
down  the  bouwerij  or  farm  lane  exchanging  pleasant  greetings 
and  items  of  personal  interest;  on  reaching  the  City,  the  Dutch 
entered  the  Church  in  the  fort,  (1642-93)  the  present  Bowling 
green,  and  the  French  went  to  the  French  Protestant 
Church     in      Marketfield     street     afterwards     Pine     street. 

•The  French  church  was  built  by  Delancey,  who  lived  and  died  in  his 
own  house  on  Bouwerij  Lane. 


17- 


Then  after  a  day  of  mutual  devotion  and  sympathy  they  re- 
turned to  the  village  for  a  warm  supper  and  rest;  the  French 
of  New  Rochelle  resumed  their  journey  homeward  singing 
beautiful  hymns  as  they  went  and  rejoicing  that  they  could 
worship  God  as  their  consciences  dictated. 

Naturally  this  hospitality  resulted  in  warmer  friendships, 
and  also  in  closer  ties;  the  Coutants,  Flandraus,  Devoes,  Har- 
sens,  Badeaus,  Sycards,  (now  Secors)  and  many  others  inter- 
married, indeed,  the  part  of  Westchester  County  previously 
mentioned  was  almost  an  output  of  Stuy  vesant  village,  the 
two  localities  being  as  familiar  with  their  personal  interests 
as  though  they  were  one. 

Ship-yards  were  constructed  along  the  East  river  and  the 
shipwrights  built  little  cottages  contiguous  to  their  work; 
their  children  were  growing  up  in  ignorance  and  allowed  to 
run  around  at  will;  the  Stuyvesant  villagers  remonstrated  with 
the  shipwrights  as  to  the  condition  of  matters  and  invariably 
received  from  them  the  reply  that  they  had  no  school-house, 
and  if  they  had,  could  not  support  a  school  and  teacher. 
Whereupon  a  meeting  was  called  in  the  Village  and  a  suffi- 
cient sum  of  money  raised  to  build  a  schoolhouse,  and  a  certain 
sum  guaranteed  to  pay  a  teacher  &c,  &c;  the  building  was 
soon  put  up,  a  teacher  employed,  and  the  school  in  running 
order.  Every  individual  who  contributed  to  this  enterprise 
was  a  selfconstituted  truant  officer  and  director,  and  gave  the 
teacher  full  authority  if  the  children  did  not  study,  to  flog  the 
lessons  into  them. 

Not  a  shipwright  child  dared  to  appear  on  the  streets  during 
school  hours.     This  was  the  first  free-school  on   Manhattan   Is- 


land. 

Stoves  were  unknown  at  this  period,  but  the  immense  fire- 
places filled  with  burning  logs  afforded  ample  facilities  for 
cooking;  the  crane  held  the  pots  and  kettles  as  well  as  the  grid- 
dle suspended  over  the  fire,  and  the  tin  or  sheet-iron  oven,  com- 
monly called  the  Dutch-oven  stood  before  the  blazing  coals,  in 
this  oven  meat  was  roasted.  Bread  and  cake  baked  in  it  were 
especially  sweet  and  delicious.  Both  griddles  and  gridirons 
stood  on  feet  about  two  inches  in  hight.  Many  dishes  now  in 
common  use  may  be  traced  to  the  Knickerbockers. 

New  Year's  was  the  greatest  festival  and  the  custom  of  ex- 
changing calls  on  that  day  was  established  at  an  early  date; 
the  gentleman  called  the  first  day  in  the  year  and  the 
ladies  exchanged  calls  the  following  days;  the  festivities  were 
kept  up  the  whole  week;  this  very  genial  custom  continued  un- 
til a  very  recent  period.  On  this  day  everyone  in  Stuyvesant 
village  kept  open  house,  and  every  housewife  besides  the  gen- 
eral bill  of  fare  prepared  something  in  which  she  excelled  this 
was  understood  by  all,  so  that  there  was  no  duplicating;  the 
callers  anticipated  and  realized  a  treat  in  every  house;  some 
of  the  women  were  connoisseurs  in  oysters,  some  in  conserves, 
others  in  punch  &c,  &c,  but  all  made  Nieu  Year  Cake  and 
were  the  first  to  introduce  this  seed-cake  in  the  New  World 
the  component  parts  of  which  are  too  well  known  to  require 
description,  in  form  they  were  about  the  shape  and  proportion 
of  an  Egyptian  cartouch.  On  this  day,  the  children,  especial- 
ly the  good  ones  were  up  bright  and  early  wild  with  anticip- 
ation as  to  what  Santa  Klaus  had  placed  in  their  stockings; 
these  stockings  had  been  hung  up   over   night  after  the  good 


old  Dutch  Custom  and  labeled  with  each  childs  name  so  that 
"Santa  Klaus"  would  make  no  mistake  and  get  the  presents 
in  the  wrong  stocking,  indeed  the  fathers'  stockings  were  often 
borrowed  for  the  occasion  the  children  thinking  their  own 
quite  too  small  for  all  the  anticipated  good  things.  By  the  by 
these  parental  hose  were  long,  beautifully  ribbed  and  knit  of 
strong  yarn  and  were  very  becoming  to  the  stalwart  calves  of 
the  wearer.  Many  tricks  were  played  at  the  New  Year  fes- 
tivals by  the  seniors,  as  well  as  the  juniors;  one  young  man 
asked  a  young  woman  if  she  would  assist  him  in  tacking  her 
largest  bolster  case  to  her  mantle,  and  on  New  Year  morning 
would  accept  of  its  contents,  she  acquiesced  supposing  some 
joke.  What  was  her  surprise  to  find  the  young  man  himself 
standing  in  the  case;  proving  that  there  are  many  ways  of  pop- 
ing the  question.  These  Nieu  Year  festivities  always  lasted  a 
week,  and  preparations  were  in  progress  long  before  the  great 
day. 

Weddings  were  times  of  great  excitement  not  unusually  the 
festivities  continued  many  days;  even  funerals  were  not  con- 
ducted without  some  eating  and  drinking. 

The  hills  north  of  the  village  called  out  the  coasters,  and  the 
pond  on  the  village  square  was  in  winter  animated  with  crowds 
of  merry  skaters,  indeed,  every  little  incident  was  made  the 
occasion  for  feasting  and  having  a  good  time. 

Sunday  was  observed  decorously  but  not  rigidly,  at  an  early 
hour  all  were  seated  with  Bible  or  catechism  in  hand  prepar- 
ing their  minds  for  the  church  service  to  take  place  later  in 
the  day. 

There  was  not  much  letter  writing  in  those  days,  yet  still  it 

20 


was  nice  to  have  a  Post  road  and  rider.  The  road  from  Nieu 
Amsterdam  to  the  Massachusetts  Colony  had  been  from  the 
first  a  path  through  the  forest  following  as  near  as  possible  the 
Sound  and  other  water  courses.  But  in  1671  the  road  was 
regularly  opened  from  Boston  to  East  Chester,  and  from  Stuy- 
vesant  village  Third  Avenue  up,  meeting  at  East  Chester.  Sir. 
or  Col.  Francis  Lovelace  in  1673  established  the  first  regular 
mail  between  Nieu  Amsterdam  and  Boston  consisting  of  a 
single  messenger  or  post-rider  who  was  ordered  "to  go  and  re- 
turn with  letters  and  packages  once  within  a  month  for  a  more 
speedy  intelligence  and  dispatch  of  affairs."  Thus  was  open- 
ed on  the  first  day  of  January  1673  the  first  post-road  on  the 
American  continent. 

Through  17 — and  a  part  of  1800  there  was  a  two  story  framed 
building  on  the  junction  of  Third  and  Fourth  avenues,  that  is  on 
the  extreme  southern  point  of  Cooper  Park  the  first  floor  was 
devoted  to  the  preparation  and  sale  of  oysters  and  the  proprie- 
tor kept  the  second  story  well  warmed  and  lighted,  as  things 
went  in  those  days,  and  the  intelligent  men  of  the  neighbor- 
hood made  this  a  rendezvous,  where  they  sat  and  sipped  coffee, 
ate  oysters,  read  the  newspapers,  of  which  there  was  always  a 
full  supply  *  and  discussed  matters  of  general  as   well  as   local 


*  The  City  papers  were:  The  New  York  Gazette  by  William  Bradford,  first 
printed  Oct.  16,  1725.  Zenker's  Weekly  Journal  founded  in  1733,  and  James 
Rivington's  N.  Y.  Gazette,  or  the  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Hudson  River  and 
Quebec  Weekly  Advertiser.  Rivington  was  a  positive  Tory  and  his  paper  repre- 
sented English  interest.  Major  Andre  was  a  leading  contributor.  After  the 
Revolution,  Rivington  professed  conversion  to  Republican  views,  but  the  villag- 
ers doubted  his  sincerity  and  the  paper  ceased  to  exist.  Rivington  was  the  print- 
er of  the  day,  and  did  a  great  deal  of  excellent  work.  Captain  James  Cook's 
voyage  around  the  world  in  the  ship  Endeavour  1768  to  1771  in  two  Vols.,  was  is- 
sued from  the  press  of  Rivington  in  1774  many  other  works  attest  his  abilities; 
he  lived  just  down  the  lane  from  the  village;  a  street  opened  through  his  property 
has  ever  since  been  called  for  him . 


interest;  many  exciting  discussions,  and  fierce  debates  were 
held  in  this  room;  these  were  stirring  times,  and  there  was 
much  to  call  out  intense  feeling;  the  talk  was  especially  hot 
when  the  Dominies  came,  for  then  each  party  appealed  to  the 
Pastor  to  know  if  his  vi^ws  were  not  coriect.  But  the  Domin- 
ies were  always  prepared  for  the  encounter  well  knowing  what 
would  be  required  of  them. 

The  distrust  of  English  rule  was  increasing,  many  meetings 
of  the  people  had  been  held  in  the  village,  and  the  proposed 
Stamp  Act  denounced  in  positive  terms;  not  that  the  villagers 
were  opposed  to  the  payment  of  the  slight  sum  of  money  demand- 
ed by  the  English,  but  it  was  taxation  without  representation 
to  which  they  objected;  the  slightest  demonstration  in  favor  of 
the  Act  was  met  by  the  toiling  of  bells,  and  every  sign  of 
mourning  and  sorrow;  the  people  were  determined  to  resist  the 
oppressive  Act.  War  was  inevitable.  Then  all  the  able-bodied 
men  in  Stuyvesant  Village  prepared  for  the  conflict,  and  offer- 
ed themselves  to  their  country;  their  families  bade  them  go  to 
the  war  without  a  thought  of  care  for  their  homes,  being  as- 
sured that  the  God  of  battles  would  not  forget  those  who  re- 
mained. 

In  these  troublous  times  the  churches  were  closed,  many  of 
them  being  used  as  barracks,  and  the  congregations  scattered. 
The  woman  in  Stuyvesant  village  took  up  the  management  of 
affairs;  every  Sunday  whenever  a  book  of  sermons  could  be 
procured  all  the  people  assembled  in  one  of  the  houses  and  the 
most  fluent  reader  selected  a  sermon,  and  read  to  the  edification 
of  the  assembly,  the  old  men  prayed  and  all  joined  in  singing 
the  sweet  son^s  of  Zion.     When  no  book  of  sermons  was  avail. 


able  then  each  mother  gathered  her  family  about  her  and  read 
to  them  from  the  Bible,  catechising  them  and  keeping  them 
well  up  to  the  mark. 

And  so  the  alter-fires  in  Stuyvesant  village  never  burned 
low,  for  the  temple  of  God  was  in  their  individual  hearts.  Af- 
ter the  occupancy  of  the  City  of  New  York  by  the  British  for 
seven  years,  news  came  to  the  village  that  on  a  certain  day  the 
English  would  evacuate  the  City;  great  was  the  rejoicing,  and 
preparations  were  immediately  in  progress  for  the  great  event 
about  to  take  place  in  their  precincts;  their  personals  and  sur- 
roundings were  furbished  and  made  to  look  as  fine  and  festive 
as  possible.  On  the  preceeding  night  everybody  retired  early, 
to  be  thoroughly  rested  for  the  coming  day,  but  there  was  lit- 
tle sleep  after  mid-night,  for  then  vehicles  of  all  descriptions 
filled  with  enthusiastic,  patriotic  people  came  rumbling  into  the 
village,  and  all  was  noise  and  rejoicing. 

The  morning  of  November  25th,  1783  dawned  clear  and 
frosty,  the  villagers  were  all  astir  by-times.  It  did  not  take 
the  little  boys  long  to  eat  their  breakfasts  that  morning,  and  by 
sunrise  Coosen  Kip,  *  Jan  Van  Tienhoven  and  all  their  chums 
were  on  the  coroner  of  Sixth  Street  t  and  the  Boston  highway 
determined  to  show  their  patriotism  by  being  first  on  the 
ground,  they  amused  themselves  as  only  small  boys  know  how 
until  12  o'clock  the  usual  dinner  hour,  when  some  of  the  boys 
declared  that  there  was  not  going  to  be  a  surrender  or  evacua- 
tion, that  the  report  to  that  effect  was  only  a  trick,  and  pro- 
posed going  home;  but  the  majority,  with  true  Knickerbocker 


•The  Kip's  were  suspected  of  having  Tory  proclivities,      t  Sixth  St-,  at  this 
period  and  for  many  years  after  was  the  City's  northern  limit. 


-23- 


grit  determined  to  stay  and  see  the  affair  out.  They  had  not 
long  to  wait  for  about  one  o'clock  the  vanguard  of  the  Amer- 
ican Army  appeared  coming  down  the  Boston  Highway,  (the 
present  Third  Avenue)  their  faces  lined  with  marks  of  suffer- 
ing, their  battle-scarred  forms  clothed  with  garments,  old  and 
faded,  but  with  a  dignity  of  bearing  that  marked  them  at 
once  as  victors,  and  the  protectors  of  the  people,  they  appear- 
ed to  the  spectators  like  very  Gods;  and  O!  what  a  mighty 
shout  went  up  at  their  approach,  and  that  shout  is  echoing  yet, 
and  will  continue  to  echo,  as  long  as  "Old  Glory"  waves  over 
a  united  people.  The  vanguard  halted  at  the  City's  limit, 
Sixth  Street,  and  in  a  few  moments  were  joined  by  General 
George  Washington,  and  Governor  George  Clinton,  followed 
by  the  American  Army  of  occupancy.  Then  and  there  oc- 
curred one  of  the  greatest  events  in  the  American  Revolution 
— the  surrender  of  the  British  to  Washington  and  their  im- 
mediate evacuation  of  New  York  City.  Following  the  sur- 
render the  British  troops  marched  down  the  King's  Bowery  * 
with  a  large  contingent  of  Stuyvesant  villagers  and  people 
from  neighboring  towns,  a  moving  mass  of  humanity  follow- 
ing after.  The  question  is  sometimes  asked  "Where  are  the 
graves  of  the  heroes  of  1776  to  '83."  No  answer  can  be  given. 
Our  forefathers  made  a  bold  strike  for  freedom  not  realizing 
the  result,  little  knowing  that  by  doing  the  work  in  hand  they 
were  founding  a  mighty  nation,  and  making  history.  And 
they  laid  them  down  to  their  long  rest  with  the   consciousness 

•At  the  first  this  street  was  simply  a  lane  leading  to  the  bouwerij  or  farms,  and 
on  either  side  were  the  out  of  town  residences  of  people  who  have  left  their  names 
on  the  streets  leading  to  their  property  these  houses  were  surrounded  by  beauti- 
ful gardens  and  people  from  the  City  often  walked  out  to  enjoy  their  lovliness; 

24 


of  having  done  their  duty,    their  graves  having  no   special 

recognizance. 

"On  Fames  eternal  camping-ground 

There  silent  tents  are  spread, 

And  Glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of   the  dead." 

The  United  States  Is  Their  Monument. 

The  surrender  and  evacuation  of  the  British,  at  Stuyvesant 
village,  November  25,  1783  practically  closed  the  War  of  the 
American    Revolution. 


AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION. 

After  the  evaucation  the  villagers  tried  to  resume  their  want- 
ed occupations,  but  the  great  event  and  its  attendant  conse- 
quences, had  overwhelmed  them  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
went  about  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life  in  a  dreamy-half- 
dazed  way;  the  story  of  the  past  was  told  and  retold,  no  one 
tired  of  telling,  none  wearied  of  listening,  but  all  in  subdued 
tones  and  without  emotion. 

On  the  28th,  of  November,  three  days  after  the  evacuation 
a  great  noise  was  heard  in  the  village,  the  people  rushed  from 
their  houses  not  knowing  what  all  the  commotion  meant,  but 
prepared  for  almost  anything.  What  was  their  joy  to  see  the 
post-rider;  there  had  been  no  regular  postal  communication  be- 
tween New  York  and  Boston  since  1776,  and  now  that  the 
rider  had  again  appeared  there  enthusiasm  was  boundless. 
After  long  and  patient  search  and  inquiry  the  rider's  name 
cannot  be  ascertained.  Tradition  says  that  the  post-rider  from 
Boston  was  exhausted  on  reaching  Stamford,  and  another 
rider,  as  well  as  a  fresh  horse  was  put  on  the  rout.  If 
the  Fathers  had  only  known  the  grand  and  noble  deeds  of 
which  they  were  the  actors  the  names  of  both  post-riders 
would  have  been  handed  down  to  us. 

We  can  imagine  with  what  speed  the  fresh  rider  started  from 
Stamford,  for  at  the  widow  Havilands  tavern  at  Rye,  on  the 
Post  road,  the  usual  place  for  exchanging  horses,  he  again 
took  a  fresh  horse,  and  with  all  haste  was  again  on   the   road, 


27- 


not  stopping  until  reaching  the  City's  limit,  although  hailed  at 
Guiou's  store  at  Rye  Neck,  on  he  went  past  the  dreaded  woods 
between  Mamaroneck  and  New  Rochelle,  that  were  known  to 
be  the  lurking  place  of  highway  men  who  might  attack  and 
rob  the  traveler,  driving  slowly  to  get  his  breath  as  he  passed 
Pointz  tavern  at  East  Chester,  and  as  he  approached  the  City 
having  bits  of  news  of  the  wonderful  events  shouted  to  him, 
rushing  over  the  Harlem,  and  down  the  Boston  Highway,  he 
entered  Stuyvesant  village  and  attained  the  City's  limit;  then 
the  rider  had  time  to  stop  and  listen  to  the  oft  reiterated  story, 
and  rider  and  horse  were  feasted  and  made  mucli  of,  but  the 
pause  was  only  momentary  the  rider  was  again  in  the  saddle 
clattering  down  the  Bouwenj  Lane  finally  arriving  at  38  Smith 
(now  William)  Street  where  in  anticipation  of  the  rider's  ad- 
vent a  post-office  had  been  opened  with  William  Bedlow  as 
Post  Master.  Bedlow's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Henry 
Rutger.  Then  the  inhabitants  of  Stuyvesant  Village  realized 
that  they  were  free  and  postal  communication  established 
with  the  outer  world;  their  joy  was  boundless  and  unrestrain- 
ed, then  from  every  dwelling  was  heard  the  old  Netherland 
song 

"In  humble  devotion  'fore  God  our  Creator, 

And  'neath  His  dominion  we  bend  our  knee, 
The  good  'gainst  the  bad  find  Him  a  vindicator 

His  name,  who  ne'er  forgets  us,  exalted  then  be, 
In  battle,  Thou  e'er  hast  been  standing  beside  us, 

Thou  fain  wouldst  that  right   should  prevail  over  might 
In  no  fight  began  was  swift  victory  denied  us. 

For  Thou  Lord  went  with  us,  we  fought  in  thy  sight. 
We  praise,  Thee,  Almighty,  that  battles  directest. 

We  pray  Thou  may'st  aid  us  in  conflicts  to  come 


-28— 


That  Thy  congregation  from  foes  Thcu  protectest 
And  that  to  evil  we  may  never  succomb." 

Eight  years  of  desolating  war  had  brought  in  their  train 
much  suffering,  many  households  in  the  village  mourned  for 
fathers,  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons,  many  of  the  houses  had 
been  sacked,  business  prostrated,  and  all  felt  keenly  what 
seems  now  to  be  so  commonly  forgotten  the  fearful  price 
which  had  been  paid  for  liberty,  but  freedom  was  theirs,  and 
with  a  measure  of  content  and  happiness  the  burden  of  life  was 
taken  up  witn  renewed^energy;  and  their  was  need  of  it,  for 
the  Revolution  left  the  Country  in  great  financial  straits,  in- 
deed we  were  not  recognized  by  foreign  powers  as  a  nation, 
but  as  colonies  united  in  a  strike  for  liberty.  It  required  time 
and  energy  to  bring  back  to  the  village  the  prosperity  it  enjoy- 
ed before  the  war.  In  1797  the  English  banks  suspended 
specie  payment,  this  suspension  lasted  twenty-two  years  and 
materially  influenced  trade  in  this  country.  The  embargo 
act  (1807-9)  when  the  ships  in  New  York  lay  rotting  in  the 
docks,  and  grass  grew  on  the  wharves,  was  another  draw- 
back to  prosperity.  A  general  financial  depression  spread 
throughout  the  land.  But  the  Stuyvesant  villagers  persevered, 
fully  realizing  that  political  or  financial  conditions  cannot  in 
themselves  create  prosperity,  that  it  is  the  individual  looking 
to  God  for  help  who  controls  circumstances  and. who  thrives 
in  spite  of  adverse  surroundings. 

Although  the  country  was  impoverished,  and  the  war  debt 
oppressive,  yet  still  the  villagers  were  not  disinclined  to  en- 
joyment. A  Frenchman  named  De  la  Croix  leased  from  the 
Stuy  vesants  a  tract  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  the    village   ex- 


—29- 


tending  from  a  certain  point  a  little  north  of  the  present 
Fourth  street  to  near  the  present  Astor  Place  and  West  to 
Broadway:  De  la  Croix  laid  out  the  ground  most  artistically 
in  set  forms  surrounded  with  box-wood,  and  in  these  forms 
planted  all  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  time;  he  also  planted 
fruit  and  forest  trees  arranged  picturesquely  near  the  summer 
houses,  which,  in  great  numbers  were  scattered  all  over  the 
grounds:  facing  the  street  the  present  Fourth  Avenue;  a  large 
building  was  erected,  the  second  floor  of  which  was  a  fine 
ball-room,  the  first  floor  being  used  for  the  preparation  and 
sale  of  refreshments. 

Parties  of  pleasure-seekers  came  up  from  the  City  to  enjoy 
in  winter*  a  dance  and  fine  supper;  and  in  summer,  a  prom- 
inade  and  refreshments  in  the  summer-houses;  here  were  serv- 
ed Mead  (a  temperance  drink  long  since  gone  out  of  fashion) 
and  sponge  cake  for  delicate  appetites,  and  fruit  cake  and 
home-made  wines  for  those  who  wanted  something  heavier, 
all  dispensed  by  colored  waiters,  for  at  this  period  slavery  ex- 
isted in  New  York,  and  even  after  the  slaves  were  freed  (1806) 
many  of  the  colored  people  remained  with  their  former  own- 
ers. The  mutations  of  time  left  their  mark  upon  the  village, 
the  inroads  of  trade  and  the  opening  of  Lafayette  Palace  in  1827 
detracted  much  of  the  beauty  and  space  from  Vauxhill  Garden. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  De  la  Croix  were  advancing  in  years,  and  too 
infirm  to  attend  to  affairs;  finally  they  gave  up  the  place,  first 
going  around  to  the  trees  which  they  had  planted,  and  loved 
as  though  they  were  their  children  and  teariully  bidding 
them  good-by;  Vauxhall  Garden  passed  through  many 
hands,    gradually     loosing  ground    and  prestige     until    1854 

30 


when  all  that  remained  of  this  once  attractive  and  fashionable 
Garden,  was  a  little  spot  just  where  the  Ninth  Division  of 
the  Salvation  Army  now  is,  and  in  possession  of  a  Mr.  Wat- 
son; at  this  period  every  vestage  of  Vauxhall  Garden  dis- 
appeared. 

On  April  3rd,  1807  by  order  of  the  municipal  author- 
ities John  Randall  Jr.,  and  George  Randall  city  survey- 
ors were  ordered  to  lay  out  all  the  streets  above  North  (now 
Houston)  Street.  At  this  period  Vauxhall  was  at  the  zeneth 
of  its  glory  and  it  would  have  been  a  great  detriment  to  the 
whole  City  if  the  Garden  had  been  in  any  way  molested, 
therefore  the  streets  from  Fourth  to  Ait  (now  Eight)  Street 
were  not  opened  through  Vauxhall,  but  were  allowed  to  start 
from  the  east  side  of  the  Bouwerij  Lane;  indeed  there  was  no 
need  of  the  streets  being  opened  through  the  Garden,  for  at  this 
period  Broadway  was  only  a  foot-path,  and  west  of  the  path 
were  the  farms  of  Richard  Randall  and  others. 

Just  above  and  adjacent  to  the  Garden  were  two  building 
lots  belonging  to  the  Stuyvesant  estate,  and  occupied  by  the 
City  reservoir;  the  pump  water  in  the  City  was  brackish,  and 
far  from  palatable,  this  reservoir  was  the  first  public 
attempt  to  improve  matters  in  this  line,  the  water  was 
obtained  from  the  pretty  little  pond  at  the  base  of  Stuy- 
vesant Church  grounds,  this  pond  extended  from  the  village 
square  up  the  Boston  Highway  and  back  of  the  present 
Bible  House  the  water  was  conveyed  to  the  reservoir 
through  wooden  pipes. 

The  brothers  Knapp  had  for  years  obtained  water  from 
this    neighborhood,    and    having    placed    it  in  large   casks 


31- 


and  hogsheads  had  them  conveyed  to  the  City  where  they 
sold  the  water  for  a  few  cents  a  pail,  this  enterprise  was 
known  as  Knapp's  tea  water;  but  the  increased  demands  of 
the  City  called  for  a  larger  reservoir,  and  a  new  one  was  built 
in  Ninteenth  St.,  and  the  smaller  one  removed.  Then  Mr. 
Gilbert  Coutant  leased  the  ground  and  erected  two  brick 
houses,  the  lots    at  this  period  extended  to  Broadway. 

Ini8oi  Captain  Robert  Richard  Randall,  a  batchelor,  owned 
a  farm  of  twenty-one  acres  extending  from  what  is  now  Fourth 
to  Fifth  Avenues  and  from  Waverly  Place  to  Tenth  street  on 
the  Fifth  Avenue  side,  and  from  Tenth  street  to  a  little  be- 
low Ninth  street  on  the  Fourth  Avenue  side,  the  house  was  on 
Fourth  Avenue.  The  whole  farm  was  bequeathed  to  found 
the  Sailors  Snug  Harbor  on  Staten  Island;  here  any  sailor, 
who  has  sailed  five  years  or  more  under  the  American  flag 
can  find  ease,  plenty  and  variety.  All  the  metropolitan  prop- 
erty is  leased  for  twenty-one  years'  renewals  at  five  per  cent 
per  annum  being  based  on  valuation  of  the  land  at  the  time 
when  each  renewal  is  made.  All  taxes  and  assessments  are 
paid  by  lessees.  Prior  to  Capt.  Randall  the  property  was 
owned  by  Baron  Poelnitz. 

West  from  the  village  was  a  pretty  highway  known 
as  Love  Lane  this  was  the  road  connecting  Stuyvesant 
village  with  Bloomingdale,  and  later  on  with  the  Eng- 
lish villages  of  Greenwich  and  Chelsea,  and  still  later 
with  newer  villages  that  sprang  up  on  the  west  side  of  the 
island.  Love  Lane  was  widened  and  paved  and  renamed 
Amity  street;  in  1863  the  name  was  again  changed  to  West 
Third  street.     It  was  in  Amity  street  that   Edgar  Allen    Poe 


33- 


lived  after  his  removal  from  Philadelphia,  and  just  previous  to 
his  living  in  Fordham,  and  while  here  ''The  Raven"  was  given 
to  the  world. 

On  this  street  was  located  the  Baptist  Church  in  which  three 
generations  of  Williams  ministered;  first  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, and  after  his  death  his  son  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  R. 
Williams,  and  then  the  grandson  of  the  first,  the  Rev.  M. 
Williams;  the  church  edifice  was  bought  by  A.  T.  Stewart. 

It  was  through  this  street  that  during  the  yellow  fever  and 
cholera  epedemics  the  dead  carts  from  the  City  carrying  their 
dreadful  burdens  collected  in  their  daily  rounds  by  the  driver 
and  his  assistant  were  carried  to  the  Potters  Field,  where  great 
p'ts  were  dug,  the  bodies  dumped  from  the  carts  into  them, 
and  the  pits  covered  over  with  dirt  and  sods;  when  the  ground 
was  filled,  trees  were  planted  and  the  old  field  became  the 
beautiful  Washington    Park. 

Just  where  East  Tenth  street  now  is,  was  the  eastern 
outlet  of  the  village,  this  led  to  a  pretty  little  beach, 
afterwards  known  as  the  "Dry  Dock,"  this  was  called 
Dandy  Point,  and  was  a  popular  resort  in  summer,  when 
no  night  passed  without  witnessing  the  arrival  of  bathing 
parties  of  twenty  or  thirty  persons  of  both  sexes.  Down 
from  the  big  wagons  they  jumped,  the  men  going  to 
one  spot,  the  women  to  another,  where  they  exchanged  their 
clothes  for  older  or  less  valuable  ones  (for  in  those  days  there 
were  no  regular  bathing  suits),  and  then  ran  down  into  the 
water  with  many  a  shout  and  splash.  There  also  were  bap- 
tisms, the  candidates  were  brought  thither  in  carriages,  and 
immersed  by  their  respective  pastors  before  a  crowd  of  inter- 

33 


ested  and  well  behaved  spectators.  On  the  corner  of  this 
street  and  Third  avenue  before  the  war  of  1812  was  the  mill  of 
Dr.  Sandford  of  Greenwich,  Conn.  This  wind  mill  was  used 
for  the  purpose  of  grinding  Peruvian  bark,  of  which  Cjunine  is 
the  active  principle,  a  tea  made  of  this  powder  was  supposed 
to  impart  strength  to  the  ailing;  i.  e.  if  used   freely. 

The  shipyards  in  this  vicinity  built  many  of  the  famous 
ships  of  the  day.  The  Browns  were  among  the  leading  build- 
ers and  were  well  represented  in  Stuyvesant  village,  as  late 
as  the  'sots;  two  daughters  of  Noah  Brown  married,  the  one 
a  Mr.  Jackson,  locally  known  as  "the  general,"  the  other  a 
Mr.  Ross  and  lived  on  Second  Avenue. 

In  1824  two  ship-builders  came  to  New  York,  and  built  at 
the  foot  of  Tenth  Street  on  the  East  river,  the  first  ship-railway 
ever  seen  in  the  United  States;  it  consisted  of  rails  laid  on  an 
inclined  plane  upon  which  a  cradle  was  run  for  the  purpose  of 
drawing  vessels  up  out  of  the  water,  in  order  to  repair  them, 
and  in  consideration  of  their  enterprise  the  Legislature  grant- 
ed to  the  railway  company  a  charter  for  a  bank,  to  last  "as 
long  as  grass  grows  and  water  runs."  Thus  was  founded  the 
Dry  Dock  Bank  now  the  Eleventh  Ward  Bank. 

Early  in  the  present  century  Brevoort  fitted  up  a  room  in 
his  house  for  the  sale  of  foreign  birds;  this  was  one  of  the  first 
if  not  the  first  business  of  its  kind  on  Manhattan  Island,  and 
was  quite  a  pleasure  resort;  aged  people  long  since  passed 
away  have  frequently  told  the  writer  of  the  pleasant  hours 
spent  in  this  room  listening  to  the  sweet  songs,  and  admiring 
the  beautiful  plumage  of  the  lovely  strangers.  The  business 
thus  established  has  since  been  continued  by   different   parties 

34 


at  present  there  are  two  bird  fanciers  on  this  property. 

Governor  Tompkins,  a  leading  man  of  the  period  was  a 
resident  of  the  village  and  very  popular,  and  when  the  market 
was  built  it  was  called  Tompkins'  market  in  honor  of  the 
Governor,  but  long  before  this  the  farmers  from  Westchester 
County  were  allowed  to  remain  on  the  east  side  of  the  Boston 
highway,  and  dispose  of  their  produce;  as  this  was  the  City's 
limit  no  tax  was  levied  on  the  venders. 

Accordingly  on  Saturday  nights  a  variety  of  wagons  and 
stands  extending  from  Sixth,  to  Seventh  streets,  might  be  seen. 
The  people  from  the  City  gladly  availed  themselves  of  the  op- 
portunity to  purchase  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables.  Two  markets 
were  erected  on  the  Seventh  street  side  of  the  block;  the  small- 
er one  on  the  corner  of  Hall  Place,  was  used  for  the  sale  of 
fish  and  vegetables;  the  larger  market  adjoining  was  exclusive- 
ly for  meat.  Markets  were  among  the  most  flourishing  institu- 
tions of  the  Island  and  were  under  the  strict  supervision  of  the 
municipal  authorities,  the  Mayor  officiating  as  clerk.  The 
block  of  ground  belonged  to  Mr.  Kearsing,  the  authorities 
gave  him  three  lots  in  Sixth  street,  Nos.  8,  10  and  14  and  a 
large  sum  of  money  in  exchange  for  the  property.  On  the 
large  space  on  the  Sixth  street  side  of  the  block  the  hay-scales 
were  placed,  and  the  farmers  from  the  Westchester  County 
towns  all  brought  their  hay  here,  sometimes  there  were  ap- 
parently thirty  or  forty  loads  waiting  for  their  turn  to  use  the 
scales.  One  fourth  of  the  proceeds  of  the  weigh  scales  was 
paid  to  the  City.  Just  west  of  the  scales  was  a  small  office  for 
the  convenience  of  the  weigh-master,  who  was  appointed  by 
the  authorities,  bonds   being   required   and   given;    for   many 

35 


years,  Mr.  Gilbert  Coutant  held  the  position,  Mr.  Earl  was  the 
last  occupant  of  the  office.  The  scales  are  still  there,  but  they 
have  net  been  used  for  nearly  half  a  century.  Mr.  Gilbert 
Coutant  had  several  daughters  the  eldest  Miss  Jane,  a  woman 
of  large  and  noble  sympathies,  mamed  Mr.  Win.  H.  Peck, 
noted  for  unusual  intelligence  and  marked  elevation  of  char- 
acter. The  youngest  Miss  Lettie,  married  Scaureman  Halsted, 
a  leading  Methodist  and  one  of  the  Governors  of  ihe  Alms 
House  and  attending  charities  under  the  law  passed  April  6, 
1849  and  president  of  the  East  River  Bank  in  1850. 

Just  east  of  the  scales  was  the  village  pump.  Opposite  the 
scales  was  the  hostelery  where  the  farmers  all  stopped;  the 
building  now  standing  and  under  the  management  of  Mr. 
Wallace,  is  the  third  of  its  kind  on  this  site;  the  first  was  the 
typical  county  tavern  with  its  broad  piazza,  and  low  slooping 
roof  which  formed  the  covering  of  the  piazza,  for  years  Mr. 
Sloat  was  the  proprietor;  when  this  house  was  removed  a 
three  story  brick  building  was  erected  in  care  of  Mr.  Jarvis. 
The  present  market  was  built  in  1862;  on  the  second  floor  is 
the  armory  of  the  well-known  and  brave  69th,  Regiment,  Col. 
Duffy  commander. 

In  their  attendance  at  church  the  woman  carried  the  Psalm 
book  or  Bible  suspended  from  a  silver  chain  attached  to  the 
girdle,  sometimes  they  made  a  chain  by  stringing  "Job's  tears" 
on  strong  sewing  silk  and  the  result  was  a  beautiful  and  orna- 
mental affair  of  a  natural  product.  In  those  times  there  was 
little  traveling  between  the  Country  and  City;  once  a  year  the 
woman  went  to  the  City  to  see  the  fashions  and  purchase 
new  bonnets,  :md  garments;  there  were  no  Express  Companies 

36 


or  local  expressman  to  carry  the  purchases  to  the  houses  of 
their  respective  buyers,  so  each  lady  when  she  went  to  the 
City  took  a  pasteboard  bandbox  covered  with  a  muslin  cover, 
this  was  made  of  a  straight  piece  of  goods  with  a  drawing 
string  at  top  and  bottom.  The  men  and  sometimes  the  woman 
carried  small  hair  trunks  ornamented  with  brass-head  nails,  on 
the  top  of  the  trunk  were  the  initials  of  the  owner,  and  a 
brass  handle;  this  was  thought  to  be  quite  stylish. 

There  were  two  excellent  spring-water  pumps  in  the  village, 
one  in  the  Square  and  the  other  at  the  City's  limit;  early  in 
the  present  century  the  progressive  inhabitance  of  the  village 
decided  that  the  pump  on  Sixth  street  was  not  up  to  date  with 
its  wooden  handle,  the  times  required  an  iron  handle;  great  op- 
position was  encountered  at  what  was  thought  by  many  to  be 
unnecessary  extravagance;  the  iron  handle  was  put  in  place 
with  varied  results.  One  man  forbade  his  family  getting 
water  from  this  pump,  and  they  were  compelled  to  go  up  to 
the  Square  for  water  needed  for  culinary  purposes. 

Another  man  said  that  he  had  unwillingly  paid  his  part 
towards  procuring  the  handle  and  intended  to  have  the  bene- 
fit; accordingly  each  afternoon  on  coming  up  from  his  busi- 
ness in  the  City,  he  stopped  at  the  pump  and  used  the  handle 
vigorously;  the  small  boys  were  not  loug  in  finding  this  out, 
and  a  crowd  of  them  met  him  on  his  way  and  with  great  en- 
thusiasm escorted  him  to  the  pump,  where  they  continued 
shouting  ana  cheering  until  the  longest  winded  were  entirely 
out  of  breath. 

The  example  of  their  forefathers  was  closeiy  followed  in 
the  training  of  children,  the  amenities  of   life   were   not   neg- 


37 


lected  the  children  were  taught  the  difference  between  man- 
ners and  mannerisms;  that  fine  manners  sprang  from  a  real 
desire  to  make  others  happy  and  were  always  unselfish,  they 
were  not  like  fine  garments  to  be  worn  occasionally  and  then 
laid  aside,  but  they  were  to  be  worn  constantly  and  improved 
in  the  wearing;  while  mannerisms  were  largely  the  product  of 
selfishness,  and  not  unusually  were  put  on  to  win  admiration, 
and  when  there  was  no  further  call  for  them  laid  aside,  and 
always  made  the  wearer  appear  strained  and  watchful  least 
there  should  be  a  lapse. 

The  boys  were  taught  to  remove  their  hats  and  bow  to  all 
they  met,  and  the  girls  to  be  careful  not  to  flirt  their  skirts 
when  they  made  a  courtsey,  but  to  fall  and  rise  with  grace 
and  dignity:  and  always  to  remember  that  repose  of  manner 
was  the  first  requisite  of  true  propriety,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances to  be  calm;  the  little  girls  were  even  taught  to  con- 
trol their  features,  and  were  positively  forbidden  to  sit  with 
their  feet  crossed;  the  hands  were  to  be  folded  in  the  lap,  and 
kept  there,  and  thus  an  enormous  amount  of  nerve  force 
was  spared,  and  a  corresponding  amount  of  power  gained. 
All  snobbish  proclivities  were  looked  upon  with  pity;  the  child- 
ren of  Stuyvesant  village  were  taught  that  well-balanced 
people  were  never  snobs,  and  therefore  they  were  not  to  be 
disconcerted  or  wr.unded  by  anything  that  a  snob  might  do 
or  say,  but  to  deal  gently  with  them,  as  snobbery  and  insanity 
were  closely  allied. 

A  self  assertive  child  was  not  tolerated,  such  a  child  was 
told  with  great  emphasis  "To  be  seen  and  not  heard."  In 
the  presence  ot  their  elders  they  were  to  listen  and  learn.    But 

38 


the  children  had  their  times  of  relaxation  and  then  a   merrier, 
happier  set  of  juvinals  could  not  be  found. 

As  time  passed  on  the  people  of  the  village  were  anxious 
that  their  children  should  be  taught  still  more  than  hitherto; 
besides  religious  and  historical  teaching,  English  translations 
of  the  classics  were  obtained,  and  added  to  the  intellectual  in- 
terest of  all  parties.  On  winter  nights  they  sat  before  glow- 
ing wood  fires  with  a  table  in  the  center  of  the  room  upon 
which  were  placed  the  books  and  some  light  refreshments  of 
apples,  nuts  &c. 

Old  and  young  read  and  talked  until  they  all  had  a  run- 
ning idea  of  the  subject  in  hand,  and  when  Dr.  Anthon  and 
later  on  Mr.  Sweeny  opened  classical  schools  in  the  neighbor- 
hood there  was  no  lack  of  appreciative  pupils  for  it  was  a 
pleasant  task  to  learn  in  the  original  a  subject  with  which 
they  were  already  familiar  in  English. 

As  far  as  can  be  ascertained  these  classical  pupils  have  all 
been  graduated  into  the  higher  scnool  in  their  Father's  man- 
sion.    There  was  always  an  abundance  of  private  schools. 

The  relations  between  England  and  the  United  States  were 
somewhat  strained  and  finally  culminated  in  the  war  of  1812. 
A  number  of  Stuyvesant  village  soldiers  were  stationed  on  an 
island  in  New  York  harbor;  the  meat  furnished  them  by  the 
Government  and  brought  to  them  every  day  was  inferior  in 
quality  and  somewhat  tainted,  this  was  more  than  men  who 
were  accustomed  to  the  best  in  the  market  could  endure;  they 
protested,  but  without  avail,  so  they  devised  an  amusing  way 
of  proclaiming  their  wrongs  to  the  public;  when  the  next  con- 
signment of  meat  came  to  them  in  usual  condition,  the  soldiers 


-39- 


securely  fastened  the  meat  on  the  top  of  a  long  flag-staff,  and 
danced  around  the  staff  simulating  the  action  of  crows,  loudly 
vociferating  "Caw!  caw!  Soon  a  boat  was  observed  to  put  off 
from  the  city  and  row  towards  the  island,  the  occupants  of 
the  boat  landed  and  anxiously  inquired  the  cause  of  this  pecu- 
liar demonstration.  After  that  the  meat  furnished  the  sol- 
diers was  the  best  the  market  afforded. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins  was  Governor  of  the  State  during  the 
war  and  evinced  great  solicitude  for  the  well-being  of  the 
troops;  in  one  order  to  a  commanding  officer  the  Governor 
wrote 

"Look  well  after  the  soldiers.  See  that  they  are  properly 
fed,  comfortably  tented  and  well  clothed.  Also  keep  vigil- 
ant eye  on  the  surgeons'  department." 

The  military  papers  of  Governor  Tompkins  relative  to  the 
war  of  1812  numbering  1,800  letters  were  purchased  by  the 
State  in  1S84.  To  the  great  joy  of  the  people  the  war  ended 
in  1 8 14;  the  good  news  came  to  the  village  in  the  afternoon 
following  a  snowy  morning.  The  people  manifested  their 
happiness  in  many  ways  principally  by  writing  "Peace"  in  the 
snow  and  elsewhere  whenever  a  possible  space  or  spot  per- 
mitted them  so  to  do;  in  the  evening  the  whole  village  was 
illuminated,  candles  were  arranged  in  forms  in  all  the  windows 
and  the  villagers  promenaded  the  streets  to  see  the  illumination 
and  to  congratulate  each  other  on  the  termination  of  the  war; 
one  person  remained  at  each  house  to  "snuff  the  candles"  and 
this  individual  was  kept  busy,  the  snuffers  becoming  so  hot 
that  they  were  laid  aside  to  cool,  and  a  second  pair  used. 

In    1855    an   organization    was   formed    for   the  purpose  of 


40 


securing  land  for  all  United  States   citizens   wtao   had  served 
their  country  in  any  war  from  1790  to  date — the  circular  read — 

LAND  WARRANTS. 

;  Office  128  Nassau  Street, 

first  door  on  the  second  floor. 

Sir: 

The  undersigned  being  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Veter- 
an Corps  of  the  city  of  New  York  to  obtain  Land  Warrants 
under  the  Bounty  Land  Law,  approved  March  3rd,  1855,  are 
now  prepared  to  obtain  Land  Warrants  for  all  persons  who 
have  served  in  any  of  the  wars  in  which  the  United  States 
have  been  engaged,  since  the  year  1790;  also  for  their  widows 
and  minor  children.  Those  who  have  had  40  acres  are  en- 
titled to  120  acres.  Those  who  had  80  acres,  to  80  acres.  And 
those  who  have  not  received  any  land  to  160  acres.  We  have 
all  the  existing  documents.  We  have  been  mainly  instru- 
mental in  getting  the  law  passed,  and  the  profits  of  our  labors 
will  be  paid  semi  monthly  into  the  treasury  of  the  Veteran 
Corps,  for  the  relief  of  the  sick,  and  the  burial  of  the  dead. 

Col.  Henry  Raymond, 

Major  A.  Dally,  Jr. 

Adj.  Gen.  L.  W.  Ryckman. 

The  two  last  mentioned  officers  were  residents  of  the  village, 
and  as  this  neighborhood  had  been  well  represented  in  the 
war  of  18 12  there  were  many  who  availed  themselves  of  the 
offer  of  the  Veteran  Corps. 

This  Corps  had  a  parade  every  Evacuation  day — Nov.  25th, 
and  appeared  in  the  old  costume — Cocked  hats,  blue  coats,  and 
buff  breeches;  their  last  parade  was  a  sad  affair,  there  were 
only  five  or  six  of  the  Veterans  remaining,  they  met  as  usual 
on  the  Old  Evacuation  ground,  Boston  highway  and  Sixth 
street,  and  with  drum  and  fife,  struggled — we  cannot  say 
marched  down  the  old  road  which  they  had  taken  in  1783;  be- 
fore the  year  came  around  again   the  most  of  them  were  at 


41 


rest;  up  to  that  time  the  anniversary  had  been  enthusiastically 
celebrated. 

After  long  inquiry  the  last  surviving  soldier  of  the  war  of 
1812,  and  one  who  participated  in  the  meat  episode  on  the 
island  in  New  York  harbor,  was  Mr.  Henry  Palmer,  or  Uncle 
Henry,  as  he  was  familiarly  and  affectionately  called;  he  pass- 
ed away  in  the  '70's  totally  blind  and  deaf  from  extreme  old 
age. 

This  was  the  era  of  tallow  dips  or  mould  candles,  and  they 
were  not  so  bad  for  if  you  had  two  or  three  of  them  burning 
in  a  room,  and  kept  them  well  "snuffed"  you  could  generally 
decipher  the  outline  of  the  different  articles  of  furniture;  and 
when  t«n  or  twelve  of  them  were  lighted  they  gave  that  soft, 
mellow  light,  and  those  lovely  shadows  so  dear  to  the  artistic 
eye,  and  in  marked  contrast  to  the  garish,  shadowless  light  of 
the  present.  Whale-oil  lamps  were  also  used,  though  not  gen- 
erally before  the  war  of  18 12-14;  people  disliked  the  odor  of 
the  oil,  and  thought  it  less  neat  and  clean  than  candles,  es- 
pecially candles  of  their  own  make. 

The  little  vessels  plyinp,  between  the  villages  and  towns 
carried  an  open  mail  box  for  the  convenience  of  passengers 
and  their  friends;  these  letters  and  packages  were  critically 
examined  by  all,  either  from  curiosity  or  otherwise  with  no 
certainty  of  delivery,  since  so  much  depended  on  the  good 
nature  or  mindfulness  of  neighbors  and  acquaintances;  this 
practice  continued  until  about  1842.  For  many  years  the  local 
mail  box  was  in  the  upper  room  of  the  oystt-.r  house  on  the 
Point  at  the  junction  of  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues. 

Isaac  L.  Varian   who   was    aldermen    from    1833    to    '36  and 


42- 


Mayor  of  the  City  in  '39  and  40  was  a  resident  of  this  neighbor- 
hood. 

After  Stuyvesant's  old  church  was  demolished  the  Dutch 
Reformed  had  no  building  in  which  to  preach  the  tgood, 
staunch  doctrine  of  the  founders  of  Manhattan,  and  they  were 
compelled  to  go  down  to  the  City  to  worship,  although  there 
were  social  religious  meetings  in  plenty.  Many  went  to  the 
church  on  Fulton  and  William  streets,  the  site  long  after- 
wards occupied  and  made  memorable  by  the  Fulton  street 
noonday  prayer  meeting,  and  now  by  F.  W.  Devoe's  Artists 
supplies;  among  those  who  went  to  this  old  church  was  a  Mrs. 
R.,  as  the  years  went  on  she  became  too  feebie  to  make  the 
trip  to  the  City  and  decided  to  unite  with  the  Seventh  street 
Methodist  Church;  at  this  period  the  Methodists  eschewed  all 
frivolities  and  dressed  like  the  Quakers.  The  old  lady  was  a 
lover  of  beauty  in  form  and  color,  and  had  an  especially  gay 
bow  of  ribbon  on  her  bonnet,  this  trimming  pleased  her  so 
much  that  she  determined  to  have  her  bonnets  decorated  in 
that  style  as  long  as  she  lived. 

When  the  old  lady  applied  for  admission  in  the  Methodist 
Church  the  people  were  glad  to  receive  her  but  objected  to  the 
gay  bow  on  her  bonnet,  they  told  her  of  their  admiration  for 
her  as  an  individual,  but  added  that  they  were  a  plain  people, 
and  did  not  permit  such  gayeties  in  the  Church. 

Well  replied  the  old  lady  I  have  decided  to  wear  that  style 
of  bonnet  adornment  as  long  as  I  am  able  to  place  a  bonnet  on 
my  head,  and  therefore  give  the  subject  no  thought  or  atten- 
tion, as  I  should  do  if  I  changed  with  the  fashions;  I  am  not  a 
Methodist.  I  still  adhere   to   the   Reformed   faith,    but   would 


43" 


like  to  unite  with  you  for  convenience,  and  if  you  do  not  choose 
to  receive  me  with  the  bow  on  my  bonnet  you  shall  not  with- 
out. The  Methodists  thought  this  pretty  plain  talk,  but  as  Mrs. 
R.,  was  an  old  lady,  and  a  highly  esteemed  neighbor  they  over- 
looked the  gay  bow  and  received  her  in  the  Church.  Now-a- 
days  if  you  want  to  see  the  fashions,  go  to  the  Methodist 
Church. 

The  services  were  conducted  in  the  Holland  tongue  until 
Stuyvesant  church  was  demolished  in  1791.  There  is  remark- 
able similarity  in  the  Dutch  and  English  languages;  you  must 
remember  that  thejirequent  and  puzzling  "ij"  is  a  "y"  without 
the  dots  and  has  the  value  of  "ee"  and  then  you  will  have  no 
trouble  in  getting  an  idea  of  the  language. 

As  the  Dutch  Reformed  had  no  church  in  the  neighborhood 
many  of  the  people,  especially  the  young,  were  drifting  off  to 
other  denominations,  they  accordingly  built  a  brick  church  on 
Ninth  street  near  Broadway,  and  located  one  of  their  best  and 
most  eloquent  ministers, — the  Rev.  Dr.  Snodgrass,  who 
did  valiant  work.  The  building  was  removed  half  a  century 
ago.  Near  this,  is  at  present  the  residence  of  Mrs.  M.  G.  Van 
Rensselaer  the  art  critic,  and  writer,  also  President  of  Public 
Education  Association.  A  short  distance  further  may  be 
found  the  Chinese  Counsel. 

When  the  streets  were  laid  out  by  order  of  the  authorities 
(1807)  the  surveyors  met  with  great  opposition.  Brevoort 
decidely  objected  to  the  innovation  of  his  market  farm,  and 
ordered  the  men  of  link  and  line  off  of  his  premises,  this  is  why 
Eleventh  street,  from  Broadway  to  Fourth  Avenue,  was  never 
opened,     All  this  was  in  marked  contrast  to  that   of   his   next 


—44- 


but  one  neighbor,  who  when  asked  permission  to  allow  people 
to  walk  through  his  property  freely  granted  the  request,  and 
years  after  never  made  the  least  objection  when  the  author- 
ities without  further  talk,  widened  and  paved  the  road  and 
called  it  Art  (now  Eighth)  street.  Possibly  because  it  was 
obtained  by  art 

Here  lived  Ary  and  Maria  Harsen  Ryckman  and  their 
children  James,  Maria,  John,  Ann  and  Cornelius.  A  great 
deal  of  fruit  grew  on  the  premises,  and  in  front  of  the  door 
stood  a  large  Maderia  nut  tree,  from  which  in  the  Fall,  bush- 
els of  nuts  were  obtained.  Where  the  Germania  now  is,  was 
Mrs.  R's  garden  and  oh  how  beautiful  that  garden  appeared 
in  the  growing  season;  June  especially  was  the  favored  month, 
then  the  roses  and  Job's  tears,  and  Joseph's  coat  of  many  col- 
ors and  the  Tulips  (the  Dutchman's  pride)  made  the  garden 
resplendent,  there  were  gentle  hands  who  trained  those  flow- 
ers, and  a  loving  heart  drank  in  their  beauty  of  form  and 
color,  but  by  and  by  the  feet  became  too  feeble  to  carry  their 
owner  to  the  garden,  and  the  hands  too  trembling  to  arrange 
the  flowers;  soon  the  kind  Father  called  that  beauty  loving 
soul  to  a  garden  where  the  Junes  are  unending  and  the  flow- 
ers amaranthine  to  go  no  more  out  forever.  The  earliest 
owner  of  this  property  of  which  we  have  cognizance  is  An- 
nete  Prouw. 

The  building  referred  to  as  the  Germania  was  once  a  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  lower  part  of  the  City,  and  the  great 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Mason  preached  within  its  walls;  the  building 
was  carefully  taken  down,  each  stone  marked  and  replaced 
on  the  new  site,  the    Presbyterians    were   not  successful   and 


-45 


sold  the  property  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  retained  the 
Church  for  some  time,  but  finally  vacated,  and  the  house  was 
unoccupied  for  a  few  years.  It  was  then  used  by  a  Variety 
Play  Company,  and  now  by  the  "Germania."  It  is  a  singular 
fact  that  no  organization  whether  secular  or  religious,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Germania,  has  ever  prospered  in  this 
building. 

Although  somewhat  effected  by  the  severe  financial  panics 
of  1819  and  '37,  new  streets  were  opened,  houses  erected,  and  a 
general  air  of  go-a-headitiveness  marked  everything  in  the  vil- 
lage. The  houses  of  this  period  were  built  with  a  covered 
porch  or  stoop  (properly  stoob),  a  seat  on  either  side  extended 
from  the  door  to  the  street,  and  here  on  pleasant  evenings  tne 
family  assembled  to  enjoy  the  balmy  air  and  the  pleasant 
chat  of  passing  friends;  while  sitting  here  they  often  partook  of 
refreshments  which  could  be  obtained  in  great  variety  at  Vaux- 
hall  and  other  places  in  the  neighborhood.  In  summer  a 
man  came  around  trundling  a  wheelbarrow  on  which  was 
placed  a  furnace  of  charcoal  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
boiler  of  green  corn  hot  which  he  had  for  sale.  The  man 
sang- 


j'l  H  P-HMS 


^E 


Hot  corn!  Hot  corn!  Here's  your  nice  sweet  corn  all  piping  hot. 

Later  in  the  season  the  same  man  brought  hot  ginger-bread, 
and  when  new  corn  meal  came,  then  he  bi ought  new  corn 
meal  pudding  and  cream. 

After  eating  these  substantial  the  people  retired  to  an  early 

4o 


rest,  and  rose  the  next  morning  strong  and  vigorous  for  the  du- 
ties of  the  day. 

About  this  time  street  cries  were  numerous  and  were  often 
accompanied  by  a  song.  A  man  brought  clams  around  every 
week  and  he  sang — 


1 


i  m  J|.N'lr'-B 


J  I  J    J- 


My  clams  I  want  to  sell  to-day  the  best  of  clams  from  Roekaway 


tt 


XllLfEI 


f 


^^-rs-J-^S 


And  if  you  do'nt  believe  it's  true  come  buy  my  clams  and  then  vou'l  know 


k±=t 


33 


fJTJ, 


■fJLfJJ 


Come    you    that     have     money     and     1     that     have    none 


jjj  i  a  I  ■■''•''  j 


as 


Come  buy  my  fine  clams  and  l<-t  me  go  home. 

Then  when  apples  were  ripe  and  ready  to  fall,  a  man  came 
around  trundling  a  wheel-barrow,  on  which  was  a  keg. — He 
sang  with  a  peculiar  nasal  twang — Sweet  Cider,  Sweet  Cider, 
— 'tis  equalized  to  wine  yet  people  call  it  Cider. 

Indeed  things  generally  found  expression  in  song,  not  that 
there  were  many  regular  tunes,  for  they  were  so  full  of  the 
rythm  and  beauty  of  nature,  that  the  songs  sang  themselves. 

As  far  down  as  1812  the  leading  physican  was  "Hollandois" 
as  may  be  seen  by  a  certificate  dated  18 12  stating  that  "J — 
R —  cannot  go  to  der  var  his  arm  kerbrokel." 


47 


Then  came  Dr.  Badeau  who  had  a  drug  store  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Seventh  street  and  Fourth  avenue.     Following 
him,  and  in  the  same  locality  was  Dr.    Sargent  who  married 
Dr.  Badeau's  widow;  the  widow   conducted  the  business  for 
some  time    after   Dr.    Sargents  death.     Meanwhile  a  youug 
man, — Dr.    Field     commenced    practice    and    married   Miss 
Ingersoll  a  granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Gertrude  Varck  the   owner 
of  the  house  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Eighth  street  and 
Fourth  avenue;  the  lots  all  extended   to    Broadway   until    La 
Fayette  Place  was  opened  in  1827.     Dr.    Field   continued   his 
practice  in  this  house  until  the   Square  was  widened  in   1838 
and  Astor  Place  opened,  then  two-thirds  of  the  house  was  remov- 
ed to  make  way  for  the  street,  and  the  remaining  third  was  occu- 
pied by  a  person  named  Franklin.     The  entire   building   was 
demolished  in  1893.     We  write  thus  specially  of  the  people  be- 
cause it  is  the  people  who  have  made  the  place.     As  a  rule  the 
inhabitants  of  this  portion  of  Manhattan  Island  were  in  ex- 
cellent health,  but  thought  it  prudent  to  keep  on  hand  some 
reliable  remedies,  such  as  Badeau's  or  Phoebus'  strengtnening 
plasters  which  were  made  of  some    evil-odered  gum  put  up   in 
little  round  tin  boxes,    and  each  individual  spread   the  gum 
with  a  hot  knife  on  heavy  brown   paper;  these   plasters   were 
supposed    to    impart    remarkable     strength    to    the    wearer, 
Badeau's  placard  represented  Atlas  carrying  the  world  on    his 
back,  but  did  not  state  whether  Atlas   wore  one  or  more  of 
Badeau's  plasters,  that  was  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  buy- 
er.    Dr.  Pheobus  did  not  live  in   the   village,    but  some    little 
distance  down  the  Lane   near,    or   on,    the   Bayard   property; 
the  Doctor  imported  Harlem  oil    directly   from   Holland,    this 

48 


was  a  "wonderful  medicatum, "  a  few  drops  on  sugar  taken 
occasionally  were  known  to  lengthen  life,  cr  if  the  eyes  were 
at  all  weak,  the  least  particle  of  the  oil  placed  in  the  corner  of 
the  eyes  would  strengthen  the  sight  until  advanced  age.  Dr. 
Phoebus  left  a  girl-wife  who  continued  the  importation  and 
sale  of  the  oil  until  1856  when  advanced  age  caused  her  retire- 
ment to  a  quiet  life. 

Here  on  December  29,  1831,  a  little  grandson  was  born  to 
Dr.  Badeau,  who  was  destined  to  leave  the  impress  of  his  life 
on  two  continents.  Adam  Badeau  grew  up  a  tall,  dignified 
youth,  inclined  to  literary  pursuits;  when  the  war  of  Secession 
broke  out  he  served  on  General  Sherman's  staff,  afterwards 
becoming  military  secretary  to  General  Grant,  remaining  on 
Grant's  stall  until  1869.  Adam  Badeau  was  brevetted  as 
brigadier  general  of  the  United  States  Army.  After  the  war 
he  entered  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  United  States,  hold- 
ing several  important  posts.  As  Secretary  of  the  American 
Legation  in  England,  and  as  a  man  armed  with  unusual 
credentials  for  entrance  into  very  exclusive  houses,  he  had 
many  opportunities  for  observing  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  aristocratic  circles  of  Great  Britain.  His  writings  are 
always  well  received,  in  1868  General  Badeau  began  his 
"Military  History  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,"  "which  occupied 
him  sixteen  years.  His  other  literary  works  are  the  "Con- 
spiracy, a  Cuban  Romance,"  "Aristocracy  in  England" 
"Grant  in  Peace,"  and  in  1884  completed  General  Grant's 
"Memoirs."  General  Badeau  died  suddenly  at  the  Herbert 
House,  Ridgewood,  N.  J.,  March  1895. 

Next  to  the  drug  store,  as  was  fitting,  was   the   undertaker's 

49 


establishment.  In  those  days  undertaker's  had  ready-made 
coffins  in  all  sizes  arranged  erectly  in  alcoves  around  the  store, 
and  also  piles  of  the  inferior  grades  standing  on  the  floor;  this 
undertaker  had  two  or  three  little  granddaughters  who  were 
in  the  habit  when  their  little  friends  visited  them  of  going  in- 
to the  ware  room  to  play  "hide  and  seek"  in  the  coffins;  thus 
proving  that  children  have  no  idea  of  suffering  and  death,  the 
coffins  to  them  were  nothing  more  than  boxes. 

For  many  years  Miss  Phoebe  McDougall  was  the  leading 
dressmaker,  and  a  great  favorite  with  children,  she  had  a 
wonderful  pocket  that  invariably  contained  toys  and  candy 
which  she  divided  impartially  among  the  little  people. 

About  the  period  of  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  a  few 
English  families  built  houses  in  Bond  street,  and  named  this 
road  from  their  old  home  in  Londen;  to  live  in  tnis  locality  was 
a  passport  to  the  most  intellectual  and  refined  society.  Here 
were  the  Schermerhorns,  the  Seixas,  the  Lonliards,  the  Wards, 
the  Kings,  the  Collins,  whose  son  John  Childs  Collins  attained 
great  distinction  as  an  artist,  and  other  people  of  eminence. 
The  street  continued  to  be  the  abode  of  New  York  aristocrats 
until  the  murder  of  Dr.  Harvey  Burdell  at  No.  31  in  January 
1857,  when  Bond  street  lost  and  never  regained  its  social 
prestige.  The  street  has  gradually  been  taken  up  by  influen- 
tial  business  houses. 

When  Lafayette  Place  was  opened  April  14,  1827,*  it  took  off 
a  large  part  of  the  gardens  attached  to  houses  on  Fourth  Ave- 
nue and  also  Vauxhall;  previous  to  this  the  properties   extend- 


•Uutil  1898  the  southern  limit  of  Lafayette  Place  was  Great  Jonrs  street;  at 
this  period  the  place  was  extended  much  farther  South,  making  a  fine  business 
thoroughfare. 


50 


ed  to  Broadway;  the  Place  was  immediately  built  up  and 
occupied  by  the  most  exclusive  people,  the  row  of  houses  now 
occupied  in  part  by  the  Colonnade  Hotel  was  built  in  1826  and 
christened  La  Grange  Terrace  after  the  name  of  Lafayette's 
home  in  France. 

The  stone  for  the  building  of  these  houses  had  been  cut  at 
very  low  rates  by  prisoners,  which  roused  the  fury  of  the 
stonecutters  of  the  City  and  was  the  occasion  of  a  riot. 

Here  lived  Gov.  E.  D.  Morgan,  Irving  Van  Wart,  the 
beautiful  Juliana  Gardiner  who  became  the  wife  of  President 
John  Tyler,  he  wrote  in  a  letter  to  his  daughter  the  lovely 
Mrs.  Letitia  Tyler  Semple,  under  date  of  Washington  1844, 
in  regard  to  Miss.  Gardiner:  —  "You  never  knew  anyone  who 
possessed  a  softer  temper  or  kinder  disposition.  Her  intellect 
is  of  the  highest  order,  and  he  who  shall  call  her  his  own  will 
have  a  treasure  of  priceless  value.  I  will  not  deny  that  I 
greatly  admire  her."     They  were  married  two  months  later. 

Adjoining  the  Terrace  is  the  Episcopal  residence  occupied 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Potter,  on  the  corner  of  Fourth 
street  was  until  a  few  years  the  white  marble  Collegiate  Dutch 
Reformed  Church;  crossing  to  the  east  side  of  the  street  we 
find  the  Astor  Library;  the  De  Vinne  press,  and  on  the  corner 
of  Great  Jones  street  the  Drumgold  Mission  building;  on  this 
site  stood  for  many  years  St.  Bartholomew^  Episcopal  Church 
now  on  Madison  Avenue  and  Twenty-fourth  street,  Rev.  Dr. 
Greer,  rector.  At  No.  17  Lafayette  Place  was  for  many  years 
the  fashionable  and  aristocratic  school  for  young  ladies  of 
Mme.  Conde.  It  was  a  most  exclusive  establishment,  and  re- 
ceived only  pupils  of  social    position    and   blue   blood.     Mme. 


5  1 


Conde  was  a  French  lady  of  superior  education,  a  most  devout 
Roman  Catholic,  and  guarded  her  proteges  as  carefully  as  if 
they  were  in  convent  walls.  Ladies  were  sent  here  to  be 
polished  for  their  entrance  into  society.  Many  of  the  Southern 
belles  who  have  adorned  and  dazzled  their  cotemporaries  were 
here  finished  for  their  presentation  to  the  fashionable  world. 

The  Astor  Library  on  Lafayette  Place,  is  destined  with  the 
Lenox  and  Tilden  Libraries  to  form  the  largest  and  most 
complete  collection  of  choice  volumes  in  the  United  States, 
and  when  located  in  the  building  that  it  is  proposed  to  erect 
on  Bryant  or  Reservoir  Park  will  take  rank  as  one  of  the 
great  Libraries  of  the  World. 

It  is  surprising  how  much  a  name  may  effect  the  people,  the 
common  cognomen  of  Jones  may  mark  a  person  of  great  im- 
portance, this  may  be  seen  in  the  case  of  a  certain  street;  a 
gentlemen  of  distinction  and  his  two  daughters  lived  in  this 
neighborhood  named  Jones,  but  he  was  not  an  ordinary  indi- 
vidual and  was  called  the  Great  Jones,  and  the  street  on  which 
he  lived  was  known  as  the  Great  Jones  street.  Madame 
Blanc  in  her  "Memoirs  says 'Never  until  I  come  to  America 
did  I  realize  what  an  unfortunate  thing  it  might  be  to  bear 
the  name  of  Jones."  But  here  was  a  man  who  rose  above  his 
name,  and  left  a  lasting  record  on  the  place  of  his  abode. 
Moses  Jones  owned  large  landed  property  on  the  east  side  of 
the  island,  adjoining  Colonels  Rutger  and  Willets. 

In  the  late  Thirties  and  through  the  Forties  Albums  and 
Diaries  were  the  fad,  the  albums  contained  loving  and  effusive 
descriptions  of  the  fair  owners,  written  by  admiring  friends; 
and  the  diaries  noted  every  incident  however  small,  occasion- 


52- 


ally  an  individual  poetically  inspired  wrote  something  worth 
remembering;  in  one  of  the  diarie's  we  find  a  day  described  as 
"one  cf  balmy  softness;  the  air  clear,  pure  and  sweet  with  the 
perfume  of  nature." 

This  was  the  epoch  of  behaviour  or  etiquette  books  "'Miss 
Leslie's  Behaviour  Book"  taking  the  lead.  The  art  of  conver- 
sation was  thoroughly  explained,  and  the  reader  was  express- 
ly told  never  under  any  circumstances  to  talk  loud  or  rapidly, 
that  it  was  not  correct  to  boast  of  personal  or  social  advant- 
ages; that  acquaintances  should  not  be  bored  by  personal  con- 
versation; that  it  is  ill-bred  to  interrupt  a  speaker,  or  monopo- 
lize the  conversation;  that  it  is  bad  taste  to  talk  of  unsavory 
subjects  or  harrow  the  feelings  by  dissertations  upon  danger- 
ous illness.  But  in  the  present  year  of  grace  the  one  who  can 
talk  the  loudest  and  fastest,  is  the  person  of  most  importance. 
Yet  still  there  are  some  highly  bred  people  who  hold  fast  to 
the  best  traditions  of  well  mannered  conversation  and  do  not 
think  it  necessary  to  interlard  their  remarks  with  gutter  slang, 
and  smatterings  of  foreign  languages,  and  who  always  eschew 
"smart"  sayings  or  anything  that  will  wound  the  feelings  of 
others,  and  who  do  not  insist  that  their  opinion  upon  any  sub- 
ject is  the  only  one  that  is  infallible.  About  this  time  little 
girls  in  the  village  wore  pantaletts — they  were  allowed  two 
pairs  of  pantaletts  and  one  white  ruffled  apron  each  week,  and 
they  were  expected  to  return  the  aforesaid  garments  on  Satur- 
day night  with  the  necessary  grime,  but  comparitively  smooth 
and  spotless,  for  the  mother's  sharp  eye  detected  the  smallest 
spot,  and  invariably  diciplined  the  careless  child;  but  the 
little  girls  always  carried  a  bit  of  chalk  and  on   removing  the 


-53" 


garments  in  question  chalked  off  all  the  dirt  possible,  and  thus 
made  them  quite  presentable. 

In  the  forties  the  substantial  family  of  Wandell's— promi- 
nent Knickerbockers  lived  on  Hall  Place,  there  were  three  beau- 
tiful daughters  and  one  son;  the  neighbors  unanimously  de- 
cided that  the  Misses  Wandell  looked  better  in  a  cambric 
dress  than  the  majority  of  young  ladies  did  in  expensive  silks; 
the  son  gave  a  party  every  winter  and  all  the  children  of  his 
own  age  were  invited.  As  soon  as  the  weather  became  cool 
the  little  people  were  on  the  alert,  and  when  the  invitations 
were  issued  the  girls  were  all  in  a  flutter  as  to  what  they  should 
wear,  finally  deciding  to  appear  in  their  best  white  frocks  with 
new  slippers  and  ribbons;  the  boys,  good  natured,  easy-going 
little  fellows  were  not  at  all  worried  about  their  clothes,  some 
of  them  would  like  to  have  gone  in  their  play  suits,  as  then 
they  would  have  felt  free,  and  had  more  fun. 

Astor  Place  was  opened  May  7,  1838  and  has  always  been  oc- 
cupied by  business  houses;  at  its  junction  with  Eighth  St.,  was 
at  the  first  a  building  used  as  a  menagerie,  afterwards  a  house 
of  considerable  size  was  erected  known  as  the  Astor  Place 
Italian  Opera  House  and  the  first  floor  occupied  by  the  Six- 
penny Savings  Bank,  this  bank  received  all  sums  from  five 
cents  to  five  thousand  dollars;  their  imprint  was  a  bee  hive 
with  the  busy  bees  flying  around  in  great  numbers,  this  em- 
blem was  in  gilt  on  the  large  plate  glass  windows,  and  also  in 
minature  on  the  bank  books.  The  upper  part  of  this  building 
was  occupied  by  the  Mercantile  Library  Association,  founded 
in  1820,  from  1854  to  1890,  when  the  present  building  was 
erected  and  occupied  by  the  association,  and  also  the    bank  of 

54 


deposit. 

Just  at  this  point  the  letter  carriers  of  ^Manhattan  have  erect- 
ed an  imposing  monument  to  S.  S.  Cox,  or  as  he  is  usually 
called  Sun  Set  Cox.  What  is  called  the  Astor  Place  Opera 
House  riot  occurred  in  1849  and  was  supposed  to  have  been 
instigated  by  E.  Judson,  better  known  as  Ned  Buntline,  the 
party  watch- word  was  "America  for  Americans"  and  as  one 
of  the  actors  (Macready)  was  an  Englishman,  they  determined 
to  drive  him  from  the  stage,  and  if  possible  from  the  country. 
The  American  (afterward  the  Know  Nothing  Party)  had 
threatened  this  attack  for  some  time,  as  they  thought  with 
disgust  on  Macready's  growing  popularity. 

Mayor  Woodhull  was  prepared  for  them,  and  on  the  event- 
ful night  ordered  out  the  militia  with  directions  to  fire  on  the 
mob.  Macready  escaped  from  the  stage  in  disguise  and  was 
smuggled  into  a  carriage  by  his  friends,  and  finally  returned 
to  England.  Edwin  Forrest  who  was  acting  with  Macready 
was  in  favor  with  trie  rioters.  The  streets  were  strewn  with 
dead  and  wounded,  some  of  whom  were  merely  onlookers. 
The  residents  felt  and  expressed  great  indignation  at  this 
ghastly  business.  Judson  was  indicted  for  causing  the  riot;  the 
late  ex-Recorder  James  M.  Smith  took  a  prominent  part  in 
Judson's  trial. 

In  1838  Henry  Kirk  White's  beautiful  song  became  very 
popular,  and  a  religious  rendering  of  the  words,  with  the 
indentical  tune  was  sung  in  social  prayer  meetings — 

'Mid  scenes  of  cofusion  and  creature  complaints. 

How  dear  td  my  heart  is  communion  with  saints; 
To  find  at  the  banquet  of  mercy  there's  room. 

And  feel  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  at  home. 


— 55- 


Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 

Receive  me  dear  Saviour,  in  glory  my  home. 

Below  and  adjoining  Vauxhall  was  the  property  of  the 
Warners  and  in  their  house  Summerfield  the  beloved  young- 
Methodist  Minister  always  made  his  home  when  he  visited  the 
village. 

The  building  was  afterwards  removed  two  lots  north  and 
slightly  raised,  a  store  being  built  on  the  ground  floor.  This 
store  is  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Lynch  for  the  saie  of  Glass 
shades  and  funeral  memorials. 

In  the  early  history  of  this  neighborhood  the  fire  laddies  were 
considered  persons  of  great  importance,  they  rendered  their 
services  voluntarily,  and  were  prompt  in  every  action;  in  1838 
Clinton  Hose  Company  was  formed  in  Fifth  street;  the  people 
were  quite  excited  over  the  event;  the  Company  made  the 
place  lively  on  every  possible  occasion.  Attached  to  the 
Hose  Carriage  were  both  ends  of  a  very  long  rope,  forming  a 
loop;  apparently  about  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  men  at 
the  signal  bell  which  was  in  a  cupola  on  the  larger  market, 
would  take  hold  of  this  rope  and  come  tearing  along  like  mad. 
A  man  with  a  tremendous  and  ear-splitting  trumpet  would 
precede  all  the  rest,  and  make  the  air  hideous  with  prodigious 
blasts;  when  at  the  fire  if  the  by-standers  did  not  "give  a  lift" 
when  the  firemen  requested,  the  hose  was  promptly  turned 
upon  them.     The  hose  used  were  of  leather  riveted  together. 

Whin  Clinton  Hose  Company  No.  17  was  formed  it  was 
thought  that  considerable  practice  was  necessary,  so  every 
Saturday  night  the  signal  bell  sounded  forth,  and  in  an  instant, 
the  men  were  in  their  red  flannel  shirts,  and  helmet  hats,    and 


56- 


off  to  the  imaginary  fire.  Some  zealous  souls  thought  that 
more  frequent  practice  was  necessary;  accordingly  Sunday 
mornings  the  call  was  heard,  and  immediately  met  with  re- 
sponse; the  woman  going  through  a  pretense  of  packing  up, 
but  after  a  time  the  novelty  wore  off,  and  all  resumed  their 
usual  pace.  But  No.  17  was  always  proud  of  its  turnout. 
The  fire  department  of  the  present  day  is  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  the  reckless,  dashing  and  formidable  old  com- 
panies of  that  period;  so  say  the  grizzled  fire-fighters  of  the 
volunteer  department. 

Diagonally  opposite  the  Hose  Company  in  Fifth  street  were 
a  number  of  houses  belonging  to  Philips  and  Dodge  familiar- 
ly known  as  the  "Ministers  Row,"  from  the  fact  that  Minis- 
ters and  literary  people  generally,  were  the  occupents;  in  the 
Fourties  and  Fifties,  the  publisher  Barnes,  the  journalist  Hud- 
son, the  City  Missionary  George  liatt  the  Henlys,  the  Shard- 
lows  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eaton,  Prof.  White,  president  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary  and  Mrs.  Raymond's  school  were  here. 
Nearly  opposite  on  the  same  street  lived  the  Burtsells;  Mrs. 
Burtsell  was  a  musical  proficient,  and  her  husband  was  a  fine 
Latin  scholar,  there  were  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  every 
morning  summer  and  winter  Mr.  Burtsell  had  the  boys  up  at 
five  o'clock  rehearsing  their  Latin,  he  frequently  remarked  to 
the  neighbors  that  he  was  determined  there  should  be  two  good 
priests  in  New  York,  and  those  two  should  be  his  sons;  the 
result  was  that  one  of  them  became  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burtsell  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church;  the  other  son  never  entered  the 
priesthood  although  Johnney  received  frequent  and  striking 
attentions  from    Pater  familis.     The   adjoining   property  be- 


-57- 


longed  to  Richard  L.  Schieffelin,  President   of   the  Board    of 
Aldermen. 

Directly  opposite,  and  next  to  Albro's  grocery,  was  a  house 
occupied  by  a  fine  looking  woman  and  a  steadily  increasing 
family,  Singer  of  sewing  machine  fame  was  an  habitual  visitor. 
Lawyer  Schieffelin's  property  included  the  corner  house  which 
had  been  raised  and  a  store  built  under  it,  this  house  originally 
belonged  to  the  Hall's  who  were  prominent  people,  the  street 
extending  from  Sixth  to  Seventh  St.,  known  as  Hall  Place 
was  part  of  their  property,  one  of  the  family  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Hall  was  an  eloquent  and  popular  Baptist  minister.  On  the 
corner  of  Hall  Place  and  Sixth  street  was  a  grocery  owned  by 
John  Martine  who  with  his  wife  were  justly  famed  for  their 
good  works. 

In  those  times  there  were  no  trained  nurses,  and  the 
sick  were  dependent  on  the  kindly  attentions  of  their  neigh- 
bors; Mrs.  Martine's  domestic  affairs  were  always  in  such  ex- 
cellent condition,  that  at  any  moment  she  could  leave  and 
respond  to  the  call  of  the  ailing;  then  at  the  last  sad  call  Mr. 
Martine  and  Charles  Carpenter  where  the  efficient  helpsrs. 
Mr.  Charles  Carpenter,  was  interred  in  his  vault  in  St.  Marks 
just  east  of  the  Eleventh  St.,  gate. 

Neal's  flower  garden  on  Fifth  Street  was  one  of  the  attract- 
ions in  the  Twenties  and  Thirties;  the  people  enjoyed  walking 
around  the  grounds,  and  purchasing  slips,  or  cuttings  of  the 
pot  plants  for  a  trifling  consideration;  the  rule  was  to  keep  the 
slip  in  partial  shade  for  nine  days,  and  then  gradually  bring 
to  the  light;  the  grower  learned  to  love  the  little  plant  and 
watched  it  attentively. 


•58- 


There  seems  to  be  some  peculiarity  about  the  figure  nine  in 
the  physical,  as  well  as  the  mathematical  world;  in  Spring  the 
children  took  sulphur  and  molasses  three  mornings  and  inter- 
mitted three,  until  they  had  taken  the  purifier  nine  times;  then 
there  was  a  cessation  of  nine  days,  again  resinning  the  process 
until  the  odor  of  sulphur  could  be  detected  on  their  finger 
tips,  when  they  were  supposed  to  be  disease  proof. 

Besides  Santa  Clause,  or  St.  Nicholas  Day,  New 
Year,  which  was  the  great  festival,  Pinkster  which  was 
always  spent  in  the  woods,  and  was  a  day  of  special  liberty 
for  the  negroes,  Vrouwen-dagh  or  St.  Valentine's  Day 
February  14th,  was  the  most  popular  with  the  young  people. 
There  were  none  of  those  hideous  creations  known  to  us  at  the 
present  as  comic  valentines,  but  all  through  the  year  the 
young  men  and  maidens  were  studying  the  character  of  their 
associates,  and  mentally  devising  drawings,  and  composing 
verses  descriptive  of  their  peculiarities,  so  that  at  the  right 
period  they  had  a  supply  of  material  on  hand. 

The  receivers  were  always  careful  to  conceal  their  chagrin 
as  much  as  possible,  for  at  the  least  manifestation  of  pique, 
they  received  a  still  more  pointed  missive. 

Long  before  the  Government  Postal  System  was  established 
there  were  three  individuals — Swartz,  Boyd,  Hussey,  who 
each  conducted  City  Letter  and  Express  Companies.  By  this 
time  colored  valentines  began  to  appear,  and  the  stores  where 
they  were  for  sale  had  a  post  box  for  their  special  use,  when 
the  auspicious  day  arrived  tne  fun  was  fast  and  furious,  for  the 
receiver  always  suspected  some  one  as  the  sender,  and  must 
return  the  compliment;  the  stone  thus  set   rolling   was   kept  in 

59 


rapid  motion  until  the  end  of  the  month. 
About  the  early  Fifties  the  city  telegraph  was   in    operation 

the  local  office  was  in  Cromby's   drug   store   on  the  corner  of 

Fourth  street.     Wiggins  drug  store  was  at  the  northern  end  of 

the  village — ioth  street. 

What  were  called  tin  plate  stoves  were  used  up  to  1840;  these 
stoves  were  oval,    consumed    wood,    and   stood   on   iron  legs 
about  eighteen  inches  from  the  floor,  over  the  fire  was  the  oven 
and  on  the  top  of  the  stove  was  one  opening  making  altogether 
a  three  story  arrangement.     Then  coal  stoves  were  introduced 
for  heating  purposes  the  Franklin   stove   was   most   generally 
used.     Sitting  rooms  and  parlors  were  provided  with  grates, 
but  in  kitchens  the  old  fashioned  wood  fires  were  still  in  vogue; 
the  kitchen  fire  was  not  allowed  to  go  out,  at  night  the  embers 
were  covered  with  ashes,  and  in  the  morning  the   ashes   were 
removed,  the  back  log  brought  forward  and  broken  in   two 
and  a  new  back  log  put  on,    then  with  an  armful  of  wood 
thrown  on  tne  backlog  of  yesterday   and   a   few    puffs  of   the 
bellows  the  fire  was  soon  blazing  bright  and   cheery,    and   the 
reflection  on  the  pewter  plates  and  mugs  which   were   rubbed 
to  look  like  silver  produced  a  beautiful  effect.      Kurning  so 
much  wood  necessitated  frequent  chimney  sweepings.     Color- 
ed men  usually  called  boys,  with  scraper  and  brushes  ascended 
the  chimneys   and  thoroughly   cleared  away  all  soot.     These 
sweeps  had  a  cry  peculiar  to  their  vocation,  and  as  the  colored 
race  is  sensitive  to  tune   and   time   some   of  these   boys  sang 
snatches  of  popular  songs;  the  last  sweep  in  this  vicinity  (about 
184a)  sang— 


60- 


Sweep  oh  sweep!    Sweep  de  chimney 


From    de    bottom     to     de     top.      Sweep    oh     sweep! 


Home!  Home!  .^wect,  sweet  home!   There's  no  place  like  home!  There's  no  place 

[like  home. 

In  the  early  '2oes  the  Methodists  put  up  a  two  story  and 
high  basement  frame  building  on  the  north  side  of  Seventh 
street;  the  basement  was  occupied  by  the  sexton  and  his 
family,  the  Auditorium  for  the  services  of  the  Methodist 
society,  and  the  top  floor  the  academy,  taught  by  Mr.  Badeau. 
The  Methodist  remained  here  until  1835  or  6  when  parties 
building  on  Eighth  street  wishing  to  extend  their  gardens 
through  to  Seventh  street,  gave  the  Methodist  lots  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  street,  and  a  sum  of  money  sufficiently  large 
to  enable  them  to  build  a  substantial  brick  church.  This 
society  has  had  many  excellent  pastois  among  whom  are  the 
Revs,  Mr.  Wakely,  Osborne  and  Bottome,  the  wife  cf  the  last 
mentioned,  Mrs  Margaret  Bottome  is  the  founder  of  the 
"King's  Daughters"  an  organization  that  has  auxiliaries  all 
over  the  world  and  has  done  and  is  still  doing  an  immense 
amount  of  good.  Among  the  young  members  who  became 
preachers  are  the  Rev.  Jarves  Nichols  and  the  Rev.  George 
Woodruff. 

In  the  basement  of  this  Church  in  the  early  '40s,  Mr.  Rus- 
sel  formed  a  singing  school  which  all  the   little   people   in    the 


-61 


neighborhood  eagerly  joined;  in  the  winter  concerts  were  given, 
which  were  Weill  attended  an  dappredated  by  the  community.  * 
In  the  same  room  Miss  Nichols  had  a  private  school. 

In  1334  or  5  the  Episcopalians  built  a  brick  church  on  Sixth 
street  near  Second  avenue,  but  failing  financially  the  building 
was  bought  by  the  Baptists  and  was  known  as  the  Sixth  street 
Baptist  Church;  the  Rev.  George  W.  Miller,  a  man  who  loved 
his  fellow  men,  and  thought  no  sacrifice  too  great  for  their 
spiritual  or  temporal  welfare,  and  the  Rev.  John  Overton 
Choules,  D.  D.,  were  in  turn  the  Pastor  of  this  Church.  Dr. 
Choules  was  the  author  of  "Bible  and  Closet,"  "Young  Ameri- 
cans Abroad,"  and  the  "Cruise  of  the  North  Star."  He  also 
contributed  to,  and  edited  several  historical  works.  In  1854 
he  accompanied  Commodore  Vanderbilt  in  his  yacht  voyage 
to  Europe.     He  died  in  Jamaica   Plains  near   Boston   in    '56. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Miller  was  especially  felicitous  in  conducting 
prayer  meetings,  and  frequently  at  the  close  of  the  exercises 
would  step  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  say,  "Now  let  us 
sing  the  Voice  of  Free  Grace."  There  was  one  who  loved 
that  Church  as  her  life,  and  when  her  voice  was  strong  and 
vigorous  joined  them  in  singing  that  beautiful  hymn,  and 
when  she  had  nearly  attained  her  ninety-second  year,  and  her 
voice  was  feeble  and  broken  she  still  sang  of  grace.  —  "And 
new  supplies  each  hour  I  meet,  while  pressing  on  to  God." 

The  school  connected  with  this  church  was  under  the  super- 
intendance  of  George  H.  Andrews  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce, 
and  was  known  in  the  American  Sunday  School  Union  as 
No.  35.     The  children  were  enthusiastically  happy  at  the  May 

■    Mr.  Russell  died  in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  in  1893. 
62 


anniversary  when  they  marched  down  Broadway  to  the  Broad- 
way Tabernacle,  and  joined  the  other  schools  in  singing  hymns 
prepared  for  the  occasion. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  G.  W.  Miller  died  in  Essex  Conn.,  in  1842, 
and  was  interred  in  the  Mills*  plot  in  Greenwood.  Mr.  Miller's 
second  wife  was  Miss  Sarah  M.  Mills  of  Long  Island.*  The 
Sixth  street  Church  passed  through  great  financial  straits 
caused  by  the  persecution  of  a  former  pastor  (Johnson  Chase), 
and  the  Episcopalians  again  came  in  possession  of  the  build- 
ing; the  Baptists  hiring  the  large  lecture  room  in  Stuyvesant 
Institute,  Broadway  opposite  Bond  street,  and  calling  the  Rev. 
Oliver  Ayer  of  Massachusetts  for  their  pastor.  Finally  they 
became  discouraged  and  disbanded  March  22,  184.7.  On 
the  following  Sunday,  March  27th,  they  held  their  last  de- 
votional meeting  in  the  back  room,  on  the  first  floor  of  house 
No.  1  Sixth  street.  ;vV  ■  /»  "' 

Meanwhile  the  Episcopalians  disposed  of  trie  Church  edifice 
to  a  fashionable  colored  organization,  and  here  in  February 
1854,  Dr.  James  McCune  Smith,  and  Fred.  Douglas,  after- 
ward the  Hon.  Frederick  Douglas,  delivered  stirring  addresses, 
to  a  crowded  house  composed  largely  of  the  best  white  people 
in  the  vicinity.  The  colored  people  had  a  flourishing  Sunday 
School  and  frequently  gave  exibitions  of  the  childreus  attain- 
ments; one  evening  when  the  children  had  acquitted  them- 
selves remarkably  well,  one  lady  of  ebony  hue,  and  perhaps 
250  avoirdupois  swayed  from  side  to  side  in  her  pew  exclaim- 
ing with    great  ferver  "None  o'  dat    in    my  day'      None  o'  dat 

"The  Mills  owned  a  large  estate  on  Long  Island,  since  purchased  by  the  Roman 
Catholic's,  and  now  Calvery  Cemetery. 

63 


in  my  day!"  In  the  early  sixties  the  building  was  used  as  a 
livery  6table,  but  was  soon  demolished  and  several  houses 
erected  on  the  site. 

In  the  Forties  and  early  Fifties  W.  H.  Disbrow's  Riding 
School  was  located  on  Fourth  Avenue,  entrance  No.  20,  here 
ladies  and  gentlemen  practiced  the  healthful  and  charming- 
exercise;  at  this  period  equestrian  perfection  was  one  of  the 
accomplishments  required  of  ladies,  and  Disbrow's  School 
met  all  demands. 

In  December  1851  Lajos  (Louis)  Kossouth  visited  the  United 
States,  during  his  stay  in  New  York  a  grand  procession  was 
formed  in  his  honor,  the  people  received  him  most  enthusias- 
tically; the  route  of  the  procession  was  up  Broadway  and 
down  Fourth  Avenue,  Kossouth  appeared  the  personification 
of  all  that  was  grand  and  noble;  he  wore  the  first  soft  felt  hat 
ever  seen  in  America. 

Among  other  people  of  mark  Peter  Cooper  stood  promin- 
ently, he  was  an  ingenious  mechanic  with  an  active  mind  and 
executive  power.  Mr.  Cooper  lived  for  some  years  in  a  house 
that  stood  where  the  Bible  House  now  is,  and  here  all  his 
children  were  born.  This  house  was  erected  by  Nicholas 
William  Stuyvesant  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

Mr.  Cooper  bought  the  house  and  leased  the  ground;  at  this 
period  all  the  ground  from  Ninth  street  to  the  Point  belonged 
to  the  Stuyvesant  estate;  this  house  was  afterward 
removed  to  the  South  East  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue  and 
Twenty-eight  street,  and  is  one  of  the  few  which  has  survived 
the  general  reconstruction  of  the  City. 

In  Baltimore  in  1830  Peter  Cooper   designed    and    bulit   the 


first  locomotive  engine  constructed  in  America. 

He  was  among  the  first  to  be  interested  in  the  Erie  Canal; 
he  was  also  among  the  earliest  promoters  of  telegraphic  com- 
munication in  this  country;  and  was  for  eighteen  years  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York,  Newfoundland  and  London  Telegraph 
Company.  He  was  nominated  by  the  Green  Back-Party  for 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 

The  neighbors  did  not  think  that  Peter  Cooper's  little  son 
Eddie  would  ever  become  Mayor  of  New  York,  (18S0)  he  was 
a  nice  little  fellow,  and  like  all  the  family  carefully  brought 
up.  And  when  Abram  S.  Hewitt  came  courting  Miss 
Cooper  the  people  about  there  agreed  that  they  would  make  a 
good  match,  and  when  he  was  nominated  for  Mayor  they  all 
gave  him  their  vote,  as  they  also  did  for  Edward  Cooper.  In 
i S54  Peter  Cooper  laid  the  cornerstone  of  a  large  building  at 
the  junction  of  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues  "to  be  devoted  for- 
ever to  the  union  of  an  and  science  in  their  application  to  the 
useful  purposes  of  life."  Here  everything  may  be  found  that 
can  be  devised  to  carry  out  the  intentions  of  the  founder.  At 
Cooper  Union  is  a  magnificent  library,  rooms  for  holding 
meetings,  art  rooms  &c,  6cc.  Peter  Cooper's  children  are 
zealous  in  following  up  his  benevolent  designs. 

May  29,  1897  the  beautiful  statue  of  Peter  Cooper  was  un- 
veiled amid  great  enthusiasm  from  an  immense  crowd  of  ap- 
preciative citizens,  by  little  four-year-old  Candace  Hevvitt,  the 
great-grand-daughter  of  the  famous  philanthropist;  the  statue 
was  fashioned  by  a  Cooper  Union  graduate,  Augustus  St. 
Gaudens.  Peter  Cooper's  sister,  Julia,  left  $200,000  by  will. 
to  the  Union.     In  the  Twenties  and  Thirties  on  the  spot  where 


■65- 


the  statue  stands  was  a  cottage  occupied  by  a  one  armed 
woman  who  taught  a  private  school. 

The  Bible  House  bounded  by  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues, 
Astor  Place,  and  Ninth  street,  containing  about  three-fourths 
of  an  acre,  is  built  with  an  open  court  in  the  centre  and  is  six 
stories  high  and  cost  with  the  ground  $304,000.  Here  may  be 
found  a  valuable  Biblical  Library  of  more  than  4,700  volumes, 
there  are  several  priceless  manuscripts,  and  rare  old  editions 
in  many  languages. 

In  1859  tne  Mechanics  Institute  was  located  on  Fourth  Ave- 
nue opposite  Cooper  Union;  this  Society  was  chartered  April 
24,  1833,  and  for  many  years  occupied  a  large  building  on 
Broadway  extending  through  to  Crosby  Street.  Hon.  Hamil- 
ton Fish,  President. 

The  Ophthalmic  Hospital  was  organized  in  1859  on  Stuy- 
vesant  street  Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D.,  President; 
Peter  Cooper,  Vice-President;  Benedict  Lewis,  Treasurer; 
Hon.  Caleb  L.  Woodhull,  Enoch  Dean,  Solomon  Jenner,  Hon. 
William  S.  Davidson,  Rev.  F.  Dewitt,  D.  D.,  John  M.  Sea- 
man, John  Johnson,  John  J.  Davis,  J.  B.  Abbott,  Hon.  J.  R. 
Whitney,  Daniel  Drew,  E.  F.  Purdy,  Managers;  W.  H. 
Stephenson,  Secretary;  Consulting  Surgeons:  Valentine  Mott, 
M.  D.,  L.  L.  D.;  D.  L.  Rogers,  M.  D.,  Attending  Surgeons; 
Mark  Stephenson,  M.  D.,  John  P.  Garrish,  M.  D.,  Apothecary; 
John  Smith. 

Every  war  in  which  the  United  States  has  been  engaged  the 
residents  of  this  section  of  New  York  City  were  largely  re- 
presented—'76,  '12,  '48,  '6i,  and  "98,  found  them  ready  to  die 
for  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  not  the  mere  bit  of  tri-colored   bunt- 


66- 


ing,  but  the  grand,  unseen  realities  which  the  flag  represents 
It  was  fitting  that  the  remains  of  young  Hamilton  Fish,  who 
fell  at  the  battle  of  La  Quasimas,  Cuba,  June  24,  1898,  should 
have  been  brought  to  old  St.  Mark's  for  the  funeral  rites;  this 
was  his  ancestral  home,  at  No.  21  Stuyvesant  street,  his  great 
grand-parents  lived;  Nicholas  Fish  married,  a  Miss  Stuyvesant, 
third  in  descent  from  the  Governor,  and  here  Hamilton  Fish 
Secretary  of  State  under  Grant,  was  born.  Col.  Nicholas 
Fish,  and  Major  Leonard  Bleecker,  were  in  the  army  of  oc- 
cupancy at  the  evacuation  of  the  British.  It  was  in  No.  21  at 
that  time  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  garden,  that  Lafayette  on 
September  10,  1 824  dined  and  spent  the  evening  with  the  Fish's. 
This  section  of  Manhattan  is  now  the  publishing  centre  of 
greater  New  York,  the  books,  papers  and  magazines  are  all  of 
the  mcst  exalted  character,  and  their  influence  is  world-wide 
It  is  impossible  to  name  them  all — the  Churchman,  the  Re- 
view of  Reviews  are  examples.  Funck  and  Wagnal  represent 
the  publishers,  of  which  there  are  many  all  doing  excellent 
work. 

The  portion  of  the  village  included  in  the  Bowery  was  not 
always  thus  called,  it  was  the  Main  street  and  the  connection 
with  the  Boston  Post-road;  it  has  been  proposed  to  give  it  the 
more  suitable  name  of  Cooper  Avenue,  the  cognomen  Bowery 
being  a  misnomer.  The  people  of  the  present  d.iy  cannot 
understand  that  this  street  was  once  occupied  by  country  resi- 
dences, and  so  attractive  that  people  came  up  from  the  City  to 
admire  its  beauties;  during  the  occupancy  of  the  British,  the 
road  was  a  bower  of  flowers  and  was  called  the  King's  Bowery, 
but  the  mutations  of  time  have  effaced  all  this. 

67 


THE  CIRCUIT  OF  THE 
VILLAGE. 

The  north-western  limit  of  the  village  w;;s  at  Tenth  street 
and  Broadway,  here  on  the  site  of  A.  T.  Stewart's  famous 
dry-goods  house,  was  the  Washington  Hotel,  frequented  ex- 
clusively by  the  literati;  here  Fennimore  Cooper  founded  the 
"Bread  and  Cheese  Club."  and  thither  came  N.  P.  Willis, 
Charles  Fenno  Hoffman,  William  C.  Bryant,  George  P. 
Morris,  Wilber  F.  Storey  and  all  the  wits  of  the  day. 

At  the  present  time  just  below  Eighth  street  are  the  large 
and  influential  houses  of  prosperous  merchants,  notably  the 
American  Book  Company,  &c,  &c,  built  on  the  former  gar- 
dens of  houses  facing  on  Fourth  Avenue.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  Broadway  near  Waverly  Place,  was  the  New  York  Hotel, 
in  the  Fifties  and  Sixties  this  was  a  famous  hostelery  frequent- 
ed by  the  United  States  Army  and  Navy  Officers,  none  were 
allowed  to  enter  the  dinning  room  to  dinner  unless  they  wore 
full  evening  dress.  Among  the  distinguished  New  Yorkers  to 
be  seen  in  those  days  at  this  Hotel  were  the  Schermerhorns, 
Wandells,  Goelets,  Belmots,  Tiemanns  and  many  others. 
General  Scott,  President  Buchanan,  President  Pierce,  General 
Albert  Sidney  Johnson,  Admiral  Farragut,  General  Beaure- 
gard, Col.  Bruce,  Jefferson  Davis,  General  Hancock,  General 
Pope,  Phil.  Kearny,  General  John  B.  Magruder,  Vice  Admiral 
Le  Roy,  "Fighting"  Joe  Hooker  represented  the  army  and 
navy;  it    was   in    this   hotel    that    Prince   Napoleon   and    wife 

68 


Princess  Clotilde  put  up  in  1861. 

The  Prince  came  to  this  country  under  orders  from  his 
Uncle  Napoleon  III.,  to  observe  the  movements  of  the  two 
great  armies — the  Union  and  Confederate;  he  remained  on  the 
field  three  months,  the  Princess  staying  at  the  New  York 
Hotel.  The  suite  of  these  distinguished  guests  consisted  of  31 
persons  in  all. 

It  was  in  this  hotel  that  during  the  trouble  between  Macready 
and  Forrest,  usually  called  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House  riot, 
that  the  Governor  of  the  State,  the  Mayor  of  the  City,  and  the 
Recorder  had  their  headquarters  in  parlor  I.,  and  directed 
the  movements  of  the  militia  and  Sheriff's   forces  from    there. 

Opposite  Waverly  Place  was  the  Church  of  the  Messiah 
(Unitarian),  the  building  afterwards  altered  to  a  theatre  known 
as  "Ye  Olde  London  Streete"  and  now  used  by  the  Waldorf 
Athletic  Club.  Just  below  here  in  the  fifties  was  Hope  Chapel, 
built  by  the  Baptists  who  had  the  Auditorum  in  the  rear  of  the 
lot,  the  front  was  occupied  by  stores,  the  entrance  to  the 
Church  being  between  the  stores 

In  the  40's  or  50's  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Great 
Jones  street  stood  a  mansion,  the  residence  of  a  recluse;  an 
air  of  sadness  surrounded  the  dwelling,  the  blinds  were  al- 
ways closed;  occasionally  a  servant  appeared  at  the  hall  door 
in  response  to  the  bell,  but  aside  from  this  all  was  quiet  except 
at  a  certain  hour  each  day  a  close  carriage  stopped  at  the 
door,  and  Roosevelt  Brown  (for  such  was  the  owners  name) 
with  his  valet  entered  the  carriage  for  a  drive;  as  the  years 
passed  on  Mr.  Brown  became  thinner  and  weaker,  until  he 
was  not  able  to  walk  from  the  house  to  the  carriage  even  with 


69 


the  help  of  his  valet,  he  was  then  carried  like  a  little  child,  and 
thus  was  enabled  to  take  an  airing.  When  the  neighbors  enquir- 
ed the  cause  of  all  this  splendid  misery  they  were  told  that  there 
had  been  an  affair  of  the  heart  some  years  before,  from  which 
Mr.  Brown  had  never  recovered;  but  by  and  by  nature  was 
exhausted  and  the  sufferer  laid  to  rest.  On  demolishing  the 
house  it  was  found  that  the  floor  in  a  room  on  the  second  story, 
although  laid  with  heavy  plank,  was  nearly  worn  through; 
and  the  world  was  then  informed  that  a  previous  plank  floor 
had  been  worn  entirely  out  by  Mr.  Brown  pacing  up  and 
down,  day  and  night  for  many  years. 

At  663  Broadway  was  the  fashionable  boarding  house  known 
as  the  Bond  Street  House,  C.  Plinta,  proprietor,  and  frequent- 
ed by  the  most  exclusive  people;  the  Rhinelanders,  the  Living- 
stons, the  Van  Renssalers,  the  Crugers,  the  Fishes,  the  Kamil- 
tons,  the  Bayards,  &c,  &c.  In  the  early  Fifties  our  first  Am- 
bassador to  the  court  of  St.  James,  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  was  a 
frequent  visitor,  at  that  peiiod  his  mother  and  sister  boarded 
here,  Mrs,  Bayard  is  remembered  as  a  pretty  black-eyed 
women,  with  a  decidedly  aristocratic  air,  but  very  gracious 
with  all.  At  the  same  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hart  were  guests  at 
the  house,  Mrs.  Hart  was  a  Philadelphian,  and  in  childhood  in 
connection  with  a  party  of  young  ladies  assisted  in  reeling  the 
silk  from  the  cocoon  for  the  first  silk-woven  United  States 
flag. 

During  the  Forties  and  Fifties  Broadway  from  Bleecker  to 
Fourteen  street  in  connection  with  the  side  streets  already 
named  formed  the  aristocratic  sections  of  Manhattan  Island; 
the  good  old  Knickerbocker  family  of  Roosevelt  were  well  re- 


70 


presented  here;  by  the  bequest  of  James  H.  Roosevelt  by  will 
executed  on  March  13,  1854,  he  provided,  after  making  certain 
special  bequests,  that  "all  the  rest  and  residue  of  his  personal 
estate"  should  be  employed  "for  the  establishment  in  the  city 
of  New  York  of  a  Hospital  for  the  reception  and  relief  of  sick 
and  diseased  persons,  and  for  its  permanent  endowment." 
Nearly  opposite  Bond  street  was  Tripler  Hall,  the  largest 
autitorium  in  the  City;  here  Jenny  Lind  appeared  during  the 
latter  part  of  her  visit  to  New  York  in  1847;  the  melodious 
Swede  was  the  most  remarkable  vocalist  of  the  age;  tickets  for 
her  concerts  brought  fabulous  prices,  in  one  instance  $ 650 
were  paid  for  a  single  ticket. 

At  the  same  time  an  unknown  pianist,  Otto  Goldschmidt 
was  engaged  to  accompany  Miss  Lind;  at  the  close  of  his  first 
performance,  the  audiance  were  in  doubt  whether  to  applaud 
or  not,  Jenny  Lind  appeared  at  the  back  of  the  stage  and 
clapped  her  hand  with  great  enthusiasm,  from  that  moment 
Goldschmidt's  success  was  assured;  this  was  thought  to  be  a 
very  graceful  act  on  the  part  of  Miss  Lind.*  They  were 
married  shortly  after.  Then  came  Ole  Bull  like  a  young  Vi- 
king out  of  the  North,  and  New  York  City  felt  itself  to  be  in- 
deed the  metropolis  of  the  country  (for  long  ere  this  Stuyvesant 
Village  had  lost  its  identity  and  been  absorbed  in  the  great 
City)  to  have  secured  such  remarkable  musical  talent,  as  Jenny 
Lind  the  vocalist,  Otto  Goldschmidt  the  painist,  and  Ole 
Bull  t  the  violinist;  but  the  city  of   that   period   was   a  quiet 

*  Jenny  Lind  died  in  London  November  2,  1&87  in  the  68th,  year  of  her  age- 

t  It  is  not  known  that  Ole  Bull  ever  performed  in  Tripler  Hall,  but  he  was  in 
the  audience  at  the  performance  of  Miss  Lind  and  Otto  Goldschmidt- 


71- 


little  town  m  comparison  with  the  bustling,  busy  mart  of  the 
present. 

Tripler  Hall  was  afterwards  altered  and  renamed  Winter 
Garden  Theatre,  and  here  in  the  season  of  1859  and  60  ap- 
peared Boucicault,  Joseph  Jefferson,  and  other  famous  actors. 

The  Academy  of  Design  was  founded  by  the  professional 
Artists  in  1826;  incorporated  by  Act  of  the  Legislature,  April 
5,  1828,  and  occupied  their  new  buildings  661  Broadway  op- 
posite Bond  street,  May  1,  1850;  at  that  time  the  Board  of  Of- 
ficers were The  Council — A   B.    Durand,    President;  C.  C. 

Ingham,  Vice-President;  F.  R.  Spencer,  Recording  Secretary; 
J.  H.  Shegogue,  Corresponding  Secretary;  T.  S.  Cummings, 
Treasurer;  William  S.  Mount  and  William  Page,  Members. 
Committee  of  Arrangement  for  the  opening  exhibition  in  con- 
nection with  the  Council  Daniel  Huntington  and  Edward 
Mooney,  of  the  Academnitions;  T.  H.  Richards  and  J.  T. 
Peale,  of  the  Associates.  The  stair-case  leading  to  the  ex- 
hibition rooms  was  thought  to  be  an  exquisite  piece  of  work- 
manship. 

StuyVesant  Institute  entrance  659  Broadway,  was  at  one 
period  the  leading  auditorium  of  the  neighborhood;  here  the 
University  College  a  medical  branch  of  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York  was  located,  under  the  leadership  of  Martyn 
Paine,  A.  Sidney  Doane,  Gunning  S.  Bradford,  and  Alfred  C. 
Post,  from  its  inception  in  1838,  until  its  removal  to  a  new 
building  in  Fourteenth  street  in  1854.  The  first  clinique  ever 
given  in  America  was  founded  here  by  the  distinguished 
Valentine  Mott  the  Professor  of  Surgery.  Many  prominent 
physicians  and  surgeons  were  associated  with   the    University 

72 


at  this  time.  It  was  in  Stuyvesant  Institute  on  Monday, 
April  29,  1839  tnat  Peter  Gerard  Stuyvesant,  then  President 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  entertained  ex-President 
John  Quincy  Adams  (at  the  semi-centenial  of  Washington) 
and  a  large  number  of  the  members  of  the  Historical  Society, 
at  the  Society  rooms  waich  were  then  in  this  building.  On 
the  upper  floor  of  Stuyvesant  Institute  in  1854,  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  had  rooms  and,  did  good  Mission- 
ery  work. 

This  locality  was  called  the  court  end  of  New  York  City,  and 
here  was  represented  all  that  was  aristocratic  and  exclusive 
on  Manhattan  Island.  Among  the  elete  were  the  Hones, 
Gallatins,  Hamiltons  and  Stewarts,  ex-Mayor  Philip  Hone 
was  a  popular  man  in  his  day,  and  his  son  Henry  was  called 
the  handsomest  man  in  the  City,  some  said  in  the  United 
States,  they  lived  on  the  north-east  corner  of  Bond  street  and 
Broadway;  on  the  south-east  corner  lived  the  Gallatins,  the 
daughter  married  a  Hamilton,  who  was  much  her  senior;  Mrs. 
Hamilton  and  Moses  Jones  daughters  were  intimate  friends 
and  congenial  spirits,  fond  of  dress,  and  tripping  the  light 
fantastic  toe.  Just  below  Bond  street  lived  Lispenard  Stewart 
and  a  little  lower  Captain  Stuart. 

Previous  to  1850  there  were  no  stores  above  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel,  near  Prince  street. 

In  this  domestic  little  community  everybody  knew  every- 
body, and  took  a  kindly  interest  in  their  affairs,  which  does 
not  necessarily  include  gossip;  and  this  is  as  it  should  be,  for 
while  statistics  are  right  and  proper  in  their  way,  it  is  the 
welfare  of  our  friends  and  neighbors  that  appeals   to   us,    and 


-73- 


we  are  glad  to  know  of  their  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Stuyvesant  village  did  not  extend  farther  south  than  the 
Bleecker  property  (35  acres);  here  lived  the  good  old  Knicker- 
bocker family  that  has  left  its  name  on  the  street.  The 
Bleeckers  were  people  of  consequence  when  some  who  are 
now  represented  in  the  400  were  peddling  furs,  and  the  young- 
er people  loitering  about  the  village  trying  to  pick  up  odd  jobs, 
for  which  they  received  very  slight  remuneration.  On  this 
street  the  first  savings  bank  in  New  York  City  was  built  in 
1 819,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  John  Pintard  a  prominant 
citizen,  there  were  twenty-eight  directors,  with  De  Witt  Clin- 
ton at  the  head.  It  began  on  a  Saturday  evening  at  six 
o'clock,  and  closed  at  mne.  There  were  deposited  that 
evening  $2,807.     The  largest  deposit  was  $300  the  smallest  $2. 

Individuals  not  knowing  the  great  changes  in  this  part  of 
Manhattan  Island  would  not  suppose  that  this  street  was  ever 
the  abode  of  exclusive  people,  and  yet  there  are  those  who 
say  that  through  the  grime  and  squalor  of  the  present,  can  be 
discerned  the  beautiful  frescoes  and  delicately  tinted  walls  of 
the  past.  On  this  street  lived  the  Mumfords,  the  Schermer- 
horns  and  many  other  prominent  New  Yorkers. 

In  the  *3oes  two  ladies  by  the  name  of  Townsend  had  a 
select  school  and  taught  with  great  acceptance,  and  in  the 
same  house  lived  a  Mr.  Townsend  (no  connection  of  the  ladies) 
whose  son  John  P.  Townsend,  L.  L.  D.,  was  or  has  been 
president  of  the  Maritime  Exchange,  of  the  Knickerbocker 
Trust  Company,  treasurer  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange, 
trustee  of  the  University  of  Rochester,  and  honory  president 
of  the  Society  of  ihe  Universal  Scientific    Congress  of   Provi- 

74 


dent  Institutions  of  Paris,  France;  he  was  also  president  of  a 
Savings  Bank,  his  books  "A  History  of  Banking  in  All  Na- 
tions" is  an  acknowledge  authority  throughout  the  world. 
This  work  is  in  several  volumns.  He  died  September  u,  1S98. 
On  Bleecker  street  at  Nos.  21  and  23  is  the  Florence  Mission, 
founded  by  Mr.  C.  N.  Crittenton  in  1883,  in  memory  of  his  lit- 
tle daughter  Florence,  who  died  in  March  of  that  year.  This 
is  the  first  Mission  of  its  kind,  and  is  spoken  of  as  the  Mother 
Mission;  from  this  has  sprung  more  than  twenty  others  in  dif- 
ferent cities. 

In  1850  the  "New  York  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Widows 
and  Orphans  of  Medical  Men"  had  rooms  at  No.  43  Bleecker 
street.  In  this  street  may  be  found  Mills  house  No.  1.,  this 
hotel  was  projected  and  built  by  D.  O.  Mills,  and  was  design- 
ed for  men  of  moderate  means,  whose  tastes  are  for  clean- 
liness and  comfort,  there  are  accomodations  for  1,600  guests 
one  of  the  most  expert  chefs  in  the  country  has  charge  of  the 
larder.  Citizen  George  Francis  Train  prefers  this  hotel  to  any 
other  in  the  City.  Citizen  Train  is  now  editing  a  Magazine, 
first  issue  Jan.  1899.  Without  question  this  new  Periodical 
hasn't  its  like  anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  civilized  earth. 

At  No.  190  is  "The  Mission  of  the  Lord"  conducted  by  Elder 
Ellis  Ballou  an  own  cousin  of  the  late  president  James  A. 
Garfield,  every  other  evening  there  are  out-door  meetings 
from  7  to  8  when  the  indoor  service  is  held;  on  Sunday  there 
are  four  services,  Ministers  of  all  denominations  assist  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ballou 

Now  let  us  cross  the  Bowerij  lane  and  enter  what  was  once 
a  silent  village.     Immediately  after   the   streets   were  opened 

75 


above  North  (now  Houston)  street,  in  1807,  the  different 
Christian  denominations  secured  land  for  burial  purposes,  and 
nearly  all  the  interments  from  the  City  were  made  here;  but 
ground  became  too  valuable  to  be  usel  for  this  purpose  and  the 
dead  were  removed  from  the  Methodist,  Presbyterian  and 
Dutch  Reformed  grounds  in  the  Fourties,  for  the  dead  have 
small  reverance  where  the  interests  of  the  living  are  concerned. 
The  Marble  Cemetery,  the  Baptist  ground,  and  a  part  of  the 
Friends  ground,  alone  remain  intact. 

The  passerby  not  familiar  with  this  locality  would  never 
suspect  that  the  center  ot  the  block  bounded  by  Second  and 
Third  streets,  Second  Avenue  and  Bowery  was  a  graveyard, 
but  such  is  the  case;  the  houses  are  built  like  a  wall  around 
the  old  burial  yard  of  the  Marble  Cemetery;  here  lie  the  remains 
of  many  of  the  best  people  of  this  vicinity,  many  of  them  laid 
to  rest  so  long  ago,  that  no  representative  is  in  the  City.  It 
has  been  proposed  to  remove  the  tomb-stones,  and  make  a 
public  play  ground  for  the  children,  of  this  old  burial  place. 
The  new  Marble  Cemetery  (1822)  is  just  a  little  east  of  Second 
Avenue,  and  here  are  interred  the  remains  of  many  who  made 
their  mark;  among  them  may  be  mentioned  Preserved  Fish, 
as  an  unknown  child  he  was  taken  from  the  water  by  a  citizen, 
and  given  every  advantage,  he  improved  his  opportunites  and 
became  a  leading  man  of  his  time. 

Here  ex-President  Monroe  was  interred.  Monroe  immedi- 
ately after  his  graduation  from  college  joined  the  Revolution- 
ary Army  and  distinguished  himself  in  several  battles.  He 
was  minister  to  France  and  to  England,  and  was  Secretary  of 
State  under  Madison.     He  was  inaugurated   President   March 


•76 


4,  i8i7  and  served  eight  years. 

President  Monroe  was  the  author  of  what  has  since  been 
known,  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  United  States  still 
adhere  to  the  principle  as  stated  by  Monroe.  He  was  the  last 
president  connected  with  the  Revolution.  He  died  in  his  home 
where  he  had  lived  for  many  years  just  outside  of  the  village 
limits  July  4,  1841  his  funeral  occurred  three  days  after,  and 
was  by  far  the  largest  one  that  had  been  seen  in  New  York 
up  to  that  date.  The  body  remained  in  the  Marble  Cemetery 
for  twenty-seven  years;  it  was  disinterred  at  the  request  of  the 
State  of  Virginia  in  1858  and  removed  to  Hollywood  Cemetery, 
Richmond  Virginia. 

In  the  Marble  Cemetery  the  remains  of  John  Ericsson  the 
great  Swedish  inventor  whose  talant  changed  the  affairs  of 
nations;  the  inventor  of  the  Monitor,  the  forerunner  of  iron- 
clad vessels  reposed,  until  conveyed  like  one  of  the  Vikings  of 
old,  with  all  civil  military  and  naval  honors,  to  his  native 
land.  Both  Monroe  and  Ericsson  lived  and  died  just  a  little 
Southwest  of  Stuyvesant  village  and  were  well  known  to  all 
the  people.  The  last  interment  in  the  Marble  Cemetery  was 
that  of  Reuben  B.  Withers  in  1897.  Mr.  Withers  died  in  Paris 
France  where  he  had  lived  for  many  years.  His  remains  were 
brought  to  New  York.  The  body  was  carried  from  the  steam- 
er to  St.  Mark's  Church,  and  after  the  service  was  interred  in 
the  family  vault  in  the  Southeast  corner  of  the  cemetery. 

On  First  otreet  a  little  below  the  Methodist  burial  ground 
was  the  pretty  little  church  of  Rev.  W.  M.  Stillwell,  who  was 
the  owner  of  the  property  and  preached  gratuitously  he  called 
his   organization   the    "Saviour's     Church    of  the   Methodist 


-77 


Society."  The  building  stood  on  the  rear  of  the  ground 
leaving  quite  a  nice  lawn  with  a  full  city  lot  on  either 
side,  there  were  several  interments  here,  but  in  1856  the 
bodies  were  removed  and  the  church  demolished;  one 
grave  remained  untouched,  this  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Steves  who 
some  years  before  had  purchased  the  spot  intending  to  be 
buried  there  himself.  The  family  had  all  died  or  moved 
West,  except  one  aged  daughter  of  Mr.  Steves  who  was  an 
inmate  of  the  Old  Ladies  Home,  then  in  Twentieth  street. 
(Founded  by  Mrs.  Isabela  Graham,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Divie  Bethune)  some  tenement  houses  front  and  rear  were 
erected,  before  beginning  the  work  a  written  guarantee  was 
given  the  daughter  that  the  grave  should  never  be  disturbed, 
and  to  the  last  of  her  life  she  held  the  paper  thinking  that 
everything  remained  as  it  did  while  the  pretty  little  church 
stood  on  this  ground,  little  knowing  that  long  before  every 
visible  vestage  of  the  grave  had  disappeared.  In  this  grave 
are  two  bodies,  the  first  was  that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Van  Velzor 
a  man  who  at  one  time  stirred  Manhattan  Island  with  his  un- 
cultured eloquence. 

At  this  period  preaching  was  more  personal  than  at  the  pres- 
ent. The  minister  of  the  gospel  got  a  grip  on  the  individual,  and 
did  not  let  go  the  hold  until  he  had  the  sinner  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  pleading  for  mercy. 

Mr.  Steves  bore  the  greatest  love  and  reverence  for  Mr. 
Van  Velzor  and  wished  his  own  remains  to  be  placed  over 
those  of  his  friend,  so  that  at  the  last  the  dust  of  the  two  would 
mingle.  This  grave  was  about  midway  between  the  front 
and  rear  houses  of  No.  42.     The  Stillwell's  were  leading  people 


7* 


in  this  neighborhood. 

In  1893  an  octoganarian  who  had  been  born  and  brought 
up  in  Stuyvesant  Village  pined  once  more  to  see  the  long-ago 
beautiful  place,  as  her  carnage  rolled  on  she  contrasted  the 
past  with  the  present,  she  exclaimed  '  'all  is  dark  and  changed 
except  the  Marble  Cemetery,  that  looks  as  it  used  to.  I  never 
want  to  come  here  again." 

Where  was  once  a  village  of  the  dead,  and  now  occupied 
with  tenement  houses  and  factories,  arises  a  grer.t  light 
Nicola  Tesla  's  lahatory  is  here,  and  from  that  mental  workshop 
the  great  Electrical  Magician  sends  out  the  results  of  his 
wonderful  experiments  to  enlighten  and  benefit  the  whole 
world;  his  latest  is  the  process  of  converting  the  nitrogen  of 
the  air  into  nitrates  for  fertilizing  wheat  fields. 

Just  above  Second  street  on  the  Avenue,  may  be  seen  a 
building  that  in  its  time  was  considered  very  imposing,  this 
house  was  built  by  the  Presbyterians  and  for  some  time  a  large 
and  wealthy  congregation  worshipped  here.  About  1840  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  arose  upon  certain  subjects,  and  the 
church  members  were  divided  into  two  parties;  the  dissension 
finally  became  so  hot,  that  many  members  withdrew  from  the 
church,  going  a  little  further  up  the  Avenue,  and  building  a 
small  brick  edifice  on  Sixth  street;  the  lower  part  was  let  to 
Mr  Fry  who  had  here  an  excellent  and  prosperous  private 
school.  But  the  spirit  of  dissension  destroyed  the  religious 
life  of  both  churches,  and  prosperity  did  not  smile  on  them. 
The  mother  church  was  the  first  to  succumb,  and  in  1S45  their 
church  edifice  was  sold  to  the  Roman  Catholics  in  whose 
possession  it  has   since   remained.     The   Sixth   street   branch 

79 


struggled  on  until  1848,  when  they   sold   the   building   to  the 
German  Lutheran  St.  Marcus  congregation. 

In  1840  a  large  log  cabin  was  erected  on  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  Third  street  and  Second  Avenue  as  the  political  head- 
quarters of  the  neighborhood.  The  canvass  of  that  year  was 
one  of  wild  excitement  and  was  known  as  the  "Log-Cabin  and 
Hard-Cider  Campaign."  Harrison  &  Tyler  were  triumphantly 
elected. 

A  few  steps  up  the  Avenue  near  Seventh  street  we  come  to 
property  that  has  been  in  possession  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
for  many  years,  here  lived  in  the  Forties  and  Fifties  a  most 
attractive  and  charming  family  named  Leuquare  consisting  of 
the  seniors,  three  daughters  and  one  son,  decided  in  their  at- 
tachment to  the  Reformed  Church.  On  this  site  was  erected 
in  1891  the  "Collegiate  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  Organized  under  Peter  Minuit  Direct- 
or General  of  the  New  Netherlands.  A.  D,,  1628.  Chartered 
by  William,  King  of  England,  A.  D.,  1696."  Originally  known 
as  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  Liberty  corner  Nassau  street, 
adjacent  to  the  famous  sugar  house  the  scene  of  atrocious  and 
multiplied  cruelties  inflicted  upon  American  citizens;  it  was 
used  by  the  British  soldiers  for  their  quarters,  and  the  interior 
destroyed  and  rendered  desolate.  At  one  time  the  Church 
was  used  as  a  prison  and  3.000  American  soldiers  sick  and  well 
were  crowded  within  its  walls.  The  present  pastor  is  the  Rev. 
John  Hutchings. 

Opposite  the  Leuquare's  on  the  south-west  coroner  lived  at 
the  same  period  an  English  Canadian  named  William  H. 
Hcople,    Mrs.    Hoople   possessed    a    remarkably    sympathetic 

80 


character,  and  was  in  every  way  a  supsrior  woman;  thsre  was 
one  only  daughter,  Miss  Mary,  and  while  living  here  she  mar- 
ried Mr.  Van  Wyck  Brinkerhoff  a  wealthy  merchant  in  the  East 
India  trade;  after  his  death  in  1892  Mrs.  Brinkerhoff  offered  to 
Barnard  College  the  mumificent  gift  of  $100,000  the  same  to 
be  used  in  the  erection  of  a  building  to  be  named  Brinkerhoff 
Hall,  in  memory  of  her  late  husband  Mr.  Van  Wyck  Brinker- 
hoff, and  her  father  Mr.  W.  A.  Hoople.  Mr.  Hojple  made  a 
large  fortune  in  the  leather  business  in  the  Swamp. — Gold 
street. 

After  Mr.  Hoople's  removal  the  house  was  occupied  by  Dr. 
James  Knight  a  humane  physician,  who  seeing  the  number  of 
maimed  and  crippled  children  in  the  neighborhood  felt  sad- 
dened, his  whole  heart  going  out  to  them  in  sympathy,  he  fit- 
ted up  a  room  in  the  second  story  of  his  own  home,  and 
received  them  free  of  expense,  they  came  to  him  in  such  num- 
bers that  one  room  was  not  sufficient  for  their  accommodation, 
and  the  whole  second  floor  was  occupied  by  the  little  unfortu- 
nates; still  the  needs  increased.  Dr.  Knight  interested  a 
number  of  wealthy  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  work,  a  society 
was  formed  in  1862,  money  collected,  and  the  magnificent 
building  known  as  the  Hospital  for  Crippled  Children  was 
erected  on  the  corner  of  Forty-second  street  and  Lexington 
Avenue,  as  the  result  of  Dr.  Knight's  benevolent,  sympathetic 
charity. 

On  the  easterly  side  of  Second  Avenue  between  Tenth  and 
Eleventh  streets  opposite  Stuyvesant  street  which  here  forms 
a  junction  with  the  Avenue  in  an  oblique  direction  is  a  church 
erected  by  the  Baptists  coming   from   the   lower   part   of   the 


City  with  the  Rev.  Archibald  Mcclay,  D.  D.,  as  their  pastor. 
The  building  does  not  present  a  combination  of  lofty  tower 
and  spire,  with  their  attendant  pinnacles,,  but  the  more  sedate 
and   pleasing  features   of  the   Gothic   style    of   architecture. 

For  many  years  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lathrop,  was  their  pastor, 
and  afterward  the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  C.  Potter.  For  some  time 
the  Church  and  Church  house  have  been  closed.  But  on  the 
20th  of  February  1898,  the  buildings  were  reopened  under  the 
auspices  of  the  City  Mission  Society;  a  new  church  organized 
known  as  the  Second  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  with  the  Rev. 
James  A.  Francis  pastor. 

Adjoining  the  church  is  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 
On  the  20th  of  November  1804  eleven  highly  accomplished 
citizens  met  by  appointment  in  the  picture-room  of  the  City 
Hall  in  Wall  street,  and  agreed  to  organize  a  society  for  the 
collection  and  preservation  of  whatever  might  relate  to  the 
civil  or  ecclesiastical  history  of  New  York,  those  gentlemen 
were  Judge  Egbert  Benson,  Mayor  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  cel- 
ebrated devines  Rev.  Dr.  L.  Miller,  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason, 
Rev.  Dr.  John  N.  Abeel  and  Rev.  Dr.  William  Linn  and  Dr. 
David  Hosack,  Anthony  Bleecker,  Samuel  Bayard,  Peter 
Gerard  Stuyvesant  and  John  Pintard.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  draft  a  constitution  consisting  of  Judge  Benson, 
Rev.  Dr.  Miller  and  John  Pintard.  At  a  second  meeting 
December  10th,  other  prominent  gentlemen  were  present  in- 
cluding Rufus  King,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  and  Rev.  John  H. 
llobert.  Permanent  officers  were  chosen  the  14th  of  January 
1805,  with  Judge  Bronson  as  president;  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Moore  1st.  vice-president;  Judge    Brockholst    Livington,    2nd 


8a 


vice-president;  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  corresponding  secretary;  John 
Pintard,  recording  secretary;  Charles  Wilkes,  treasurer;  and 
John  Forbes,  librarian. 

The  first  standing  committee  consisted  of  Dr.  Samuel  I. 
Mitchell,  Dr.  David  Hosack,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  William 
Johnson,  John  McKesson,  Anthony  Bleecker  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Mason.  In  the  New  York  Historical  Society  are  found  the 
early  records  of  the  City,  some  of  them  so  precious  that  they 
are  kept  carefully  in  a  strong  locked  safe,  and  although  going 
back  as  far  as  1633  the  writing  ink  is  perfectly  legible,  show- 
ing the  superior  quality  of  the  ink  in  those  times;  there  are  also 
a  valuable  collection  of  coins,  and  medals;  the  gallery  com- 
prises portraits  of  many  distinguished  individuals.  Present 
building  erected  1857. 

We  next  come  to  the  New  York  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  on 
the  corner  of  Thirteenth  street.  This  infirmary  was  founded 
in  1820  and  for  many  years  occupied  the  middle  house  in  the 
row  of  two  story  cottages  in  St.  Marks  Place  near  Third  Ave- 
nue. This  is  the  oldest  institution  of  its  kind  m  the  country. 
It  was  organized  witn  a  staff  of  two  physicians  and  the  first 
year  gave  relief  to  600  patients;  since  then  nearly  1. 000. o„o 
patients  have  been  treated. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid  March  15, 
1890  by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  Benjamin  H. 
Field,  assisted  by  Bibhop  Potter  and  Mrs.  G rover  Cleveland. 
Ex-Mayor  Abram  S.  Hewitt  presided,  and  made  the  opening 
address.  Bishop  Potter  in  full  episcopal  vestments  made  an 
impressive  prayer,  J.  Harsen  Pvhodes,  one  of  the  Board  of 
Directors,  gave  a  historical  sketch  of   the   infirmary.     Execu- 

83 


tive  Surgeon  Henry  D.  Noyes  described  the  work  of  the  in- 
firmary. George  William  Curtis  made  the  principal  address, 
after  which  President  Field  assisted  Mrs.  Grover  Cleveland  up 
a  flight  of  steps,  leading  to  where  the  corner-stone  was  sus- 
pended. Both  Mrs.  Cleveland  and  Mrs.  Field  smoothed  the 
mortar,  and  the  stone  was  lowered  to  its  place.  Bishop  Pot- 
ter pronounced  the  benediction.  It  may  be  well  to  add  paren- 
thetically that  Jacob  Harsen,  Sr.,  was  one  of  the  number  to 
organize  this  great  work,  and  at  his  death  soon  after,  left 
$ io.ooo  to  the  institution.  This  is  the  same  Jacob  Harsen  in 
whose  house  on  the  Bloomingdale  road,  now  Seventieth  street 
and  Boulevard,  the  Bloomingdale  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
was  formed.  Jacob  Harsen  bequeathed  to  the  church  a  tract 
of  land  on  Broadway  and  Sixty-ninth  street;  a  few  years  since 
a  portion  of  the  land  was  sold  for  $300,000  and  the  new  church 
erected,  Rev.  Dr.  Martyn  pastor.  Present  pastor  Rev.  J. 
Madison  Peters.  A  tablet  was  inserted  in  the  wall  in  memory 
of  Jacob  Harsen. 

On  the  point  made  by  the  junction  of  Tenth  and  Eleventh 
streets  with  Second  Avenue,  is  St.  Mark's  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  this  edifice  is  built  on  the  very  site  of  Governor 
Stuyvesant's  Church. 

The  present  building  was  erected  in  179 1.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  historical  buildings  in  the  City.  Its  vaults  bear  the 
names  of  many  families  connected  with  the  history  of  this 
vicinity.  Here  lie  the  remains  of  the  Governors  ot  three  dif- 
ferent dynasties  Dutch,  English  and  American.  In  the  Stuy- 
vesant  vault,  side  by  side  with  Governor  Stuyvesant,  are  the 
remains  of   the   English   governor   Colonel    Henry  Sloughter 


-84- 


who  died  in  1691,  in  the  vault  of  Mr.  Minthorn,  not  far  distant, 
the  body  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  governor  of  New  York  State 
1807-17  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  1817-25  are 
interred.  Here  are  the  vaults  of  the  Winthrops,  Hones,  Van 
Denheuvels,  Gebharis,  Barclays,  Iselins,  Dirck  Ten  Brokes, 
Milderburgers,  Raynors,  Waldrons,  Anthons,  Townsends, 
Graffs,  Lorillards,  and  here  at  his  death  April  10,  1876  the  re- 
mains of  A.  T.  Stewart  were  deposited.  The  grave  was  rob- 
bed of  the  body,  the  coffin  remaining  in  the  vault;  detectives 
say  that  the  body  was  never  recovered.  Judge  Hilton  found 
some  way  of  pacifying  Mrs.  Stewart,  and  the  coffin  was  placed 
in  the  mausoleum  at  Garden  City,  Long  Island.  This  church 
has  had  many  superior  Rectors,  among  them  may  be  mention- 
ed the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Anthon,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rylance, 
who  was  pastor  from  1S7 1-1899,  at  that  date  he  was  made  pas- 
tor emeritus.  The  assistant  Rector  is  the  Rev.  Walter  E. 
Bentley,  a  highly  esteemed,  and  efficient  co-laboror  in  church 
work. 

The  Anthons  were  leading  people  in  the  City  in  intellectual 
circles;  Charles  Anthon  was  classical  professor  in  Columbia 
College.  There  were  always  a  great  many  artists  in  this 
vicinity. 

In  this  neighborhood  in  the  Forties  and  Fifties  lived  the 
Ogdens,  the  Underbills,  the  Zabriskies,  the  Fellows,  the 
Johnsons,  the  Tomlinsons  and  the  Ensigns.  Near  13th  street 
lived  Fernando  Wood,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1855 
'56  and  '57. 

Diagonally  opposite  from  the  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  on  the 
corner  of  Fourteenth  street  is  the  Presbyterian  Church  for 
many  years  under  the  efficient  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 

85 


T.  McEwen,  who  by  his  urbanity  and  enthusiasm  did   an   im- 
mense amount  of  good.     Present  pastor  Rev.  F.  B.   Richards. 

A  little  higher  up  the  Avenue  we  come  to  Stuyvesant  Square; 
until  the  early  Nineties  this  park  was  exclusively  for  the  use  of 
the  wealthy  residents  of  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  the 
gates  were  locked  regularly  at  sunset;  but  now  the  gates  are 
never  locked  and  the  park  is  free  to  all. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Park  is  St.  George's  Church  (Rev. 
Dr.  Milnor's  removed  from  Beekman  street,)  formerly  Dr. 
Tyng  rector,  now  Rev.  Dr.  Rainsford. 

Contiguous  to  the  Episcopal  Church  is  the  Friends  Meeting 
House,  adjoining  is  the  Penington,  a  home  for  infirm  and 
aged  Friends;  visitors  and  others  are  also  accommodated. 
Opened  May  22,  1897.  This  is  the  northern  limit  of  Director 
Stuyvesant's  property  on  the  east  side;  and  now  we  will  cross 
to  the  Boston  Highway  (Third  Avenue)  and  a  little  south  we 
come  to  a  spot  that  is  famous  in  song  and  story — namely  the 
pear  orchard  belonging  to  the  Governor;  one  of  these  trees 
Stuyvesant  brought  from  Holland  and  planted  it  just  where 
afterward  was  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue  and  Thirteenth 
street,  here  the  tree  stood  for  over  240  years.  In  1863  there 
were  three  pears  hanging  from  its  branches.  William  Spiker, 
a  grocer,  whose  store  was  opposite  the  tree,  plucked  these 
pears  and  sent  them  to   the    Fair  of   the   American    Institute 

One  of  these  last  three  pears  may  now  be  seen  in  the  drug 
store  of  the  late  J.  B.  Frees,  No.  179  Sixth  Avenue.  The 
pear  is  perfectly  preserved,  still  attached  to  the  original  twig, 
in  a  bottle  of  spirits.  The  jar  containing  the  pear  bears  the 
official  card  of  the  Institute,  yellowed  by  long  exposure. 
This  was  the  last  time  the  tree    produced    fruit;    although    the 

86 


tree  was  surrounded  by  a  high  iron  railing,  it  was  thought 
hazardous  to  remain,  and  it  was  cut  down  in  1867.  The  Hol- 
land Society  have  placed  a  Memorial  stone  in  the  corner  house. 

And  thus  coming  down  the  avenue  a  few  steps  we  reach 
the  great  dry  goods  house  of  A.  T.  Stewart  —  Hilton  & 
Hughes — E.  J.  Denning  and  Co., — Wanamaker. 

We  have  compassed  the  village  and  who  shall  not  say  it  has 
been  a  pleasant  and  profitable  walk,  one  of  which  the 
original  founders,  if  they  can  now  take  cognizance  of  earth, 
are  not  ashamed.  As  we  saunter  down  the  old  Boston  High- 
way, and  think  of  the  traditions  of  our  forefathers,  we  come 
to  the  spot  which  was  once  the  City's  limit  and  stop  where 
the  oyster  house  once  stood  hush  with  the  point,  in  imagin- 
ation we  go  up  the  stairs  to  the  reading  room  and  post  office 
and  look  in  the  pantry  (for  the  point  was  utilized)  and  see  the 
piles  of  books  and  newspapers,  and  we  exclaim  "food  for  the 
mind,"  we  descend,  and  look  into  the  pantry  on  the  ground 
floor,  and  here  we  see  quantities  of  good  things,  prepared  in 
the  most  appetizing  manner,  and  we  exclaim  "material  food." 
And  now  just  where  those  closets  were  is  a  drinking  fountain 
for  man  and  animals  a  fitting  rounding  up  of  internal  and 
mental  cheer.  This  drinking  fountain  is  a  memorial  to  the 
late  Mrs.  Marie  Guise  Newcomb,  an  artist  well  known  as  an 
animal  painter.  It  was  erected  by  the  society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  to  which  Mrs.  Newcomb  gave 
•^750,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  a  picture,  "The  Horse's 
Need,"  for  the  purpose.  The  fountain  is  thirteen  feet,  six 
inches  high,  surmounted  by  an  ornamental  lamp,  which  stands 
nearly  six  feet  above  the  top  of  the  stone  work,  and  is  a  carved 
block  of  Italian  coral  red  granite. 


37- 


CONCLUSION. 

It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  this  locality  has  sent  out 
more  individuals  who  have  been  a  blessing  to  mankind 
than  any  portion  of  New  York  City  of  equal  size. 

The  descendants  of  the  founders  of  the  village  formed  a 
social  circle  remote  and  independent  of  the  new  comers,  and 
when  they  met  always  talked  over  the  sayings  and  doings  of 
their  ancestors,  dwelling  upon  them  with  special  pride  and 
pleasure:  invariably  ending  with  the  exclamation  "Well!  there 
are  not  many  of  us  remaining."  There  was  a  certain  pathos 
in  this  it  seemed  like  the  last  sigh  of  a  fast-passing  race. 
Portions  of  the  neighborhood  were  being  peopled  by  a  rough, 
illiterate  class;  a  complete  exodus  of  the  original  inhabitants 
began  in  the  Fifties  and  in  a  few  years  all,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Governor's  descendants,  had  vacated  the  home  of  their 
ancestors.  But  the  spirit  of  the  past,  its  frankness,  probity 
and  high-souled  courage  still  hovers  over  the  place,  and  casts 
its  benign  influence  on  the  people  and  their  work.  Now  let 
us  bid  adieu  to  this  once  lovely  spot,  with  affection  and  rever- 
ance,  and  be  thankful  that  in  a  large  portion  of  it,  is  still  to  be 
met  the  design  of  its  founders— 

"Who  left  unstained  what  there  they  found,  Freedom  to 
worship  God." 


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